Actions Speak Louder Than Words
by capturemysoul
Summary: Nathan and Haley are two famous actors and are acting as each other's love interests in a new movie. What happens when what was only supposed to be on-screen feelings start to become real?
1. Beth Summers

"Next!" Haley heard the director yell.

As Haley walked towards the door she saw a blond girl, about her age, wearing clothes that were much to small to be classified as clothes walking out of the studio in a huff. Haley looked down at her own outfit, a pair of jeans and a yellow tank top, and wondered why people thought that they had to dress revealing to be famous. She ran her fingers through her long blond locks as she opened the door to reveal three men in suits sitting together at a table. The second she walked into the room, however, she could see the faces of the three men light up. She groaned inwardly.

"Hello I'm Haley James" Haley said in a very professional voice even though she knew they had already recognized her.

"Hello!" The three men said, almost in unison, and much too excitedly. She could see their eyes glaze over with lust and it make her that much more uncomfortable. Haley waited patiently for one of them to tell her to start but since none of them seemed to snap out of their trances she cleared her throat loudly. All three men shook their heads and looked back up at her. The man furthest to the left started speaking.

"Hello Haley James, you will be playing the part of Beth Summers, an extremely smart but unpopular teenage girl who ends up tutoring and eventually falling for James Reed, the school jock. There are two parts for this audition, first you will read the script provided for you," he nodded to Haley's hand which contained the script, "Then I will conduct an interview to see if you can portray the character as we would like."

Haley sat down on the stool in the center of the room and started reciting her lines. She had already read the script and found that she could relate very much to Beth Summers so she really hoped that she would get the part.

Once Haley had finished reciting her lines she got ready for the interview portion. "Would you like some time to prepare yourself for the interview?" Asked one of the men.

"No thank you" Haley immediately replied. She had already prepared what she was going to say, after all, her friends didn't call her "tutorgirl" for nothing! She was pretty sure that she could be ready for any questions they were about to throw her way.

"So…" The director on the left started, "Is it true that you are single Miss. James?"

_Whoa!_ Okay, so maybe she wasn't prepared for **any** question.

"Ummm…" Haley really didn't want to answer that question, especially considering the way this director was looking at her, but she knew that if she didn't she could kiss her role in this movie goodbye, and Haley _**really**_wanted this role. "Yes."

"Okay well next question…" He quickly continued. Haley knew what was coming next, this guy was going to ask her out. She had met directors like this one way too many times in her life and although she really wanted the role she was not going to start something with this guy just to get it, she was _not_ one of those girls.

"Wait!" Haley said quickly. All three men looked up surprised. "Umm…" Haley said nervously. "I was hoping that instead of you asking me questions I could just tell you why I think I would be a good fit for this role."

"Okay…" The man who had being hitting on her said in a slightly irritated tone.

"Well when I hear about movies there are certain roles that I know I want, but I have never found a role that I want as much as this one. I feel like I **am** Beth in so many ways. I was just like her in high school, in fact, I still am. My friends call me 'tutor girl' because I am so organized and as they call it 'nerdy'," Haley laughed nervously "I was a tutor in high school, I didn't fit in with the popular crowd and I always believe that if you look for the good in someone, you will find it. I think that James' friends only hung out with him because he was good at sports, they didn't take the time to get to know him and realize that he's not like the rest of them, that he was completely different from the stereotypical jock. Beth saw the real him, and she stuck with him because she got the time to know him." Haley stopped suddenly, realizing that she was rambling. "And that's why I think that I should play Beth." She concluded.

The directors just sat there looking at her like she had three heads. Haley chewed her bottom lip nervously.

_I knew I shouldn't have rambled on like that, now they think I'm insane._ A loud noise broke her out of her thoughts. The director in the middle had stood up and was applauding her, the other two soon followed.

"Wonderful!" The director beamed. "You pinned the character perfectly! That was absolutely perfect!"

Haley blushed, she wasn't very good at taking complements. "Uhh…thanks" She said. She couldn't believe it, she had gotten the role of Beth Summers. _I wonder who will be playing James Reed…_ she though curiously.


	2. James Reed

­­**Author's Note: Just to clear some things up Nathan and Haley do not know each other but they've heard of each other. I want to thank everyone for their reviews, I was really nervous about putting my writing out there, especially with all the great writers already on this site, but I hope you enjoy this. **

**I just wanted to say to anyone who hasn't already done so. I would greatly suggest reading some writing by Bindy417. Especially More Than Anyone and Funny Little Feeling. They are amazing.**

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Nathan woke up to the sound of his blaring alarm clock. He rolled over and groaned as he lifted his heavy eyelids to peer at the time: 7:00. _Why the hell am I waking up at 7:00 on a Saturday?_ he wondered. Suddenly it struck him, his audition was today! He was trying out for the part of James Reed in the newest Hollywood chick flick: Opposites Attract. Nathan jumped out of bed quickly, his audition was at 8:00.

As Nathan stumbled around the room looking for some clothes his eyes scanned over the bed where there was a lump in the covers. _Shit!_ He must have forgotten to remind his company last night that she was supposed to leave as soon as they were finished.

Nathan quickly found a shirt and pulled it over his head before walking over to the bed and swiftly pulled the covers off the still sleeping girl.

"Stella! Get up and get out, I have an audition in…" He looked at his watch briefly, "forty five minutes and I need you up and out of here."

He was used to this, girls never seemed to be able to grasp the concept of a one night stand, they always had to get their petty little emotions involved. As long as he was getting what he needed, which being an actor he _definitely _was, he didn't see the need to go through all that relationship crap.

Nathan quickly refocused on the problem at hand and gave Stella a little push. He heard an "Oomph" as she hit the ground. Well, at least she was finally up.

"Nathan what the hell was that!" Stella fumed as she stood up from the bed. "And by the way, my name is _not_ Stella, it's Bella!"

"Stella, Bella, whatever. It doesn't matter what your name is all that matter is that you get the fuck out of my house." This girl was starting to get on his nerves. He didn't know why he even put up with her.

"Really, are you sure? Because you're looking awfully sexy in that shirt right now…" Bella looked him up and down appreciatively as she ran a finger down his chest. "I'm really sorry Nathan, I didn't mean to go off on you like that. I know that you don't sleep with a girl more than once, but I was hoping that you might make an exception, this one time…" Bella purred as she leaned up and nibbled on his ear teasingly.

Suddenly Nathan remembered why he had put up with Bella's mood swings the night before. As memories of the previous night came flashing back to him Nathan decided that the audition wasn't such a big deal. After all, he was only going to appease his agent. For some reason his agent had thought that he seems a little "rough around the edges" and he therefore needed to do some sappy chick flick to repudiate his play-boy image.

Nathan then felt Bella nibbling on his ear and she whispered "I'll be gone as soon as we're done..." That was all that he needed to hear as he pushed her back onto the bed. The audition could wait, right now he was busy.

~*23*~

As Nathan walked down the street he made sure that he looked presentable, and not like he had been having sex just ten minutes prior. He smirked to himself as he thought about all the ways he managed to get the psycho mood swing girl out of his house. They had gone at it for at least an hour.

Nathan then looked down at his watch. It was 8:30. That meant that he was only half an hour late for his audition. His manager should be proud. He knew he would get the part anyways. Once they saw that he was _the_ Nathan Scott they would be begging him to take the part.

As Nathan walked into the waiting room he wondered if the any of the directors would be women. That would sure as hell make this job a lot more fun. However as Nathan walked into the audition room to see three very impatient looking men it felt as if someone had poured a bucket of ice cold water on his fantasies.

He sighed dejectedly "Hi guys, I'm Nathan Scott and I'm trying out for the role of James Reed." He didn't even know why he was here, he wasn't some sappy sensitive guy, he was Nathan Scott.

"We'll aren't we enthusiastic!" The director on the left sneered sarcastically, "Not to mention tardy."

Nathan didn't know why this guy seemed to have it out for him but he did know that no low-life director was going to talk to him that way.

"You son of a-"

"Alright that's enough both of you!" The director in the middle boomed. He then turned to the sarcastic director on the left and said. "John, put some ice on it."

The director than turned back to him and said, "Hello Nathan. I'm Trevor." He then pointed to the man on the right, "This is Andrew and of course this is John." He said turning to his left before continuing "Nathan I understand that you are a big star here in Hollywood but this isn't some low budget trash movie and if you can't be here on time than I don't know why you would expect that we should give you the part."

"Because I'm the best." Nathan responded without missing a beat. He knew how many girls out there would pay big bucks to see Nathan Scott being "sensitive", even if it was all an act, he was sure these directors must know this as well.

Trevor looked curiously at Nathan for a minute before he sat back in his chair, "We'll be the judge of that." He responded curtly, nodding for Nathan to start.

Nathan spent the next hour reciting his lines to perfection and talking about why he would be well suited to play James. By the end of the audition he knew he had the part. He stood there smirking as he waited for their appraisal. He already knew what was coming.

Trevor nodded curtly and said "Well, it looks like you are the best, you've got the part." Nathan's smirk widened and upon noticing this Trevor added. "This movie isn't going to revolve around you Nathan, we've got many other great actor's here and they are not all going to sit around waiting for you so you need to get your act together because there are tons of actors who would kill for this part."

Nathan nodded his head and turned to John with his very self-satisfied smirk still in place.

"I still don't see why I couldn't have played James." Nathan heard him mutter under his breath. _That would explain why he hates me so much._ Nathan thought to himself. _But why would he direct a movie if he wanted to act?_

Nathan looked up and noticed the other two directors shooting John annoyed glances and decided to break the tension. "You act?" he asked casually.

Nathan didn't expect the dirty glare he received from John. It was an innocent question, this guy seriously had some issues.

"No." He grumbled.

"Then why would you…" Nathan trailed off, he didn't want to pick a fight right after getting the role but this guy was making no sense.

Trevor cleared his throat and looked at Nathan with amusement in his eyes. "The reason that John wants to play James so bad is the same reason why you are so lucky to have gotten this role."

"And that is…" These directors were so vague, they could just get straight to the point.

"Haley James." John responded with a dreamy smile.

Nathan had heard of Haley James. She was one of Hollywood's biggest actresses. He'd heard of her numerous times and seen her in some posters and magazines but he'd never actually met her in person. That probably had something to get with the fact that they had _very_ different reputations, from what he'd heard she was a total straight edge where as he was a playboy prince, and she acted in girly chick flicks where as he did sports and action movies.

"Yeah, I've heard of Haley James but what does it have to do with John wanting to act and me being lucky?"

Andrew chose that moment to speak for the first time, "Haley James will be playing Beth Summers, the girl James falls in love with."

Nathan thought about this for a minute. Most of the girls he worked with were had no objections to having some fun off the set, he wondered if this Haley girl would be the same. From what he'd seen she was hot as hell and he could only imagine the things they could do. The next year and a half were _definitely_ going to be interesting.

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**Next Chapter: Nathan and Haley's first meeting.**


	3. Chemical Reactions

**I just want to thank everyone for reviewing, it means a lot. Here is the moment you've all been waiting for…The Naley Meeting!**

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As Nathan sat on the floor he felt another piece of popcorn hit him in the back of the head, followed by the sound of Peyton giggling profusely.

Nathan turned around to scowl at his two friends. "Seriously guys, what are you, seven? Grow the hell up!"

Nathan, Peyton and Jake were sitting in Nathan's living room watching a movie. Peyton had made them watch some chick flick and then she had the nerve to spread across his couch with Jake so that he was left sitting on the floor. The only bright side to this evening was the fact that Haley James was the lead actress in this movie and Nathan was really starting to enjoy her movies, well except for the fact that he had no clue what had happened so far, she was more than a little distracting. It also didn't help that every time Peyton caught him supposedly 'drooling' over Haley she felt the need to 'snap him out of his daze before there was a puddle on the floor' as she put it and throw popcorn at his head. He was pretty sure she just liked pissing him off.

Another handful of popcorn came flying his way and Nathan quickly ducked as it went flying past his head and hit the television screen.

"What the hell Peyton!" Nathan exclaimed, "I wasn't even drooling this time, I was just thinking!"

"So you admit you were drooling the other times?" Peyton asked with a mischievous smile. She had been trying to convince him he had a thing for Haley since he came home last week and told her about his new role.

"What? No!" Nathan stuttered a little too quickly. "What I meant was that…umm…"

"It's okay." Peyton smiled cheekily. "Your secret's safe with me."

"There's no secret to keep," Nathan muttered. "I **don't** like her Peyton, she's just another actress."

"If that's your story Nathan, but I know the truth."

"There's no truth to know! I've never even met her!" Nathan exclaimed exasperated.

"Exactly my point, I've never seen you this attracted to a girl you've never even met. Actually come to think of it I've never seen you this attracted to a girl you _have_ met. Normally you completely ignore these kinds of movies but your eyes haven't left the screen once tonight. I think that has something to do with a certain female actress that you're going to be acting with in a few days. You were totally lusting after her. If you're this infatuated with her now imagine how bad you'll be after you meet her."

Nathan scowled. "Jeez Peyton get it through that thick skull of yours, I'm not infatuated, I don't _get_ infatuated. You should know that by now, I just think she's hot."

"I saw the way you were looking at her and that was _not_ just thinking that she was hot, that was something more."

Nathan was about to retort but it seemed that Jake beat him to it.

"Peyton, just drop it." Jake said softly. Nathan shot him a grateful look. _Thank God for Jake_. "Nathan will realize he's infatuated in his own time."

_Or not._ "Guys you have known me for eight years now, you know that I don't do that relationship crap, why are you pushing it?"

"That's exactly the reason we're pushing it." Jake responded looking at him seriously. "We don't buy your 'I'm Nathan Scott, tough guy' bullshit."

"Yeah," Peyton added "You just need the right woman to soften you up. Maybe an actress," Peyton pretended to ponder, "with blond hair, oh and brown eyes! Probably around hmmm…5'4 would be a good height. Don't you think Jake? Yeah that would be perfect! Now where oh where would we find someone like that…"

"Guys I don't know what you've been smoking but no one is going to 'soften me up'" Nathan said using air quotes. "I just want to sleep with her and then everything will return to normal."

Nathan heard Jake snort and looked up abruptly. "What?" he asked.

"You think Haley James is going to sleep with you? Just like that?" Jake asked incredulously.

"Why not?" Nathan asked cockily. "Every girl wants to get with this." He pointed to himself and gave them a cocky smirk.

"Maybe you should read up on her Nate" Jake shook his head. "She's not like the bimbos you're used to, she's different."

Nathan gave him a confused look. "You're talking about her like you know her."

Jake gave him a small smile. "Maybe I do."

Before Nathan could ask for further explanation Peyton's cell phone went off. "Hello?"

She was quiet as she listened to whoever was on the other end. Then she suddenly looked down at her watch and her eyes went wide. "Yes, I'm so sorry, we didn't realize the time! We'll be there right away. Bye."

As soon as she hung up she looked over at Jake. "We have to go relieve the baby-sitter."

Jake looked at his watch. "Oh shoot, it's 10:30 already!"

"Pffft," Nathan scoffed "You guys are twenty-three year olds who can't even stay out past 10:30."

"Well that's because we have a daughter to take care of." Peyton replied.

"Well, maybe if _someone_ hadn't gotten Nikki pregnant in high school…" Nathan said looking pointedly at Jake, who looked down in response. He knew it was a low blow but he had to get back at them for all those Haley comments they had made.

Peyton responded for him. "You have slept around with way more people than Jake has so you have no right to talk. You're just jealous that Jake and I have a family, maybe you could have one too. If you stopped being so damn stubborn and admitted to having feeling for a certain blond haired, brown eyed actress."

"Peyton…" Jake warned.

"Alright, that was my last attempt. Promise." Peyton looked up solemnly at them. Although she seemed genuine Nathan somehow doubted that she was done trying to convince him to start something with Haley.

Jake shook his head amused as he walked his wife to the door.

"Just think about what I said!" Peyton yelled through before the door slammed shut.

Nathan chuckled to himself. Sometimes he wondered why he was still friends with them, probably because they were the only one's who would put up with his bullshit.

Nathan had met Peyton and Jake freshman year of high school. Peyton and Nathan had instantly started a relationship but it was mostly about sex and they didn't have any real feelings towards each other. Somewhere along the way he had introduced Peyton and Jake to each other and they had hit it off. About a month later Peyton had gotten tired of him cheating on her and had broke things off and started seeing Jake. A month after that Nathan had found out he had been accepted into Oak Lake Academy and had moved, leaving behind everything in Tree Hill. It wasn't too bad because he had only been in school for three months and although he was quite popular, basket-ball season hadn't started yet so most people didn't notice when the star player packed up and left. Jake had still kept in touch and eventually Peyton had come around and forgiven him as well. By their senior year of high school Jake and Peyton were engaged and soon after Peyton had signed the papers to officially adopt Jenny.

Nathan had gone to Duke and been accepted into the NBA but after all that he had been through with his dad pushing him, he decided to quit. He used to love the game but at that point he could barely muster up the enthusiasm to play. It wasn't a game it was a chore. The second Nathan realized this he turned down all NBA offers. Once his dad heard the news he kicked him out on his ass.

It turned out that one of the movie producers had heard about Nathan's many NBA offers and asked him to star in a basket-ball movie. Nathan had gotten the part and ended up here.

He was happy, he was living every guy's fantasy, but for some reason he wanted more. He didn't know what it was or how to get it but he felt…lonely. He had an endless supply of women at his disposal but he felt like none of them fully satisfied him.

He sat up and decided that he should head for bed. He had been planning to go to a club but he wasn't really in the mood anymore.

~*23*~

Haley woke up to something bouncing on top of her. She opened her eyes to find Brooke straddling her, bouncing up and down.

"Brooke what are you doing?" Haley muttered groggily. "It's too early in the morning, go away."

"That's odd," Brooke said in her cheery voice, "usually it's you waking me up." She paused to ponder that thought for a moment before shrugging her shoulders, "Doesn't matter anyways, what matters is that you're gonna get up to help me pick out an outfit for my date with Lucas tonight."

Haley sat up and glared at her friend. "Okay Brooke first of all, you and Lucas are _engaged_ so you don't need me to help you pick out an outfit, he already loves you. Second of all, if your date is tonight than you still have another…" Haley glanced at the clock, "twelve hours! And third of all, what is the point of getting all prepped up now when Lucas is in the next room. I know he slept here last night, like he does practically every other night." Brooke looked like she was about to protest but Haley quickly continued. "And don't you dare try and deny it and then hide him in the closet like you did yesterday because I heard you two last night!" Haley grimaced. "In fact, I think my ears are still bleeding."

Brooke didn't even look slightly guilty, in fact, she looked quite pleased with herself. "Famous fashion designer Brooke Davis and author Lucas Scott have hot sex while Hollywood actress Haley James listens in from the next room." She said, doing her best impersonation of a news reporter. "Kinky." She said wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"Oh God." Haley flopped her head back down onto her pillow and groaned. Brooke Davis was _definitely _one of a kind.

"So," Brooke asked, making it quite clear that Haley was not going to get any sleep anytime soon, "did you find out who your hot lover boy is going to be yet?"

Haley looked up at her friend in frustration. "If you mean the actor who will be playing James, no I do not."

"Who do you _think_ it'll be?" Brooke asked as she leaned in closer.

"I don't know Brooke," Haley stated "and quiet frankly, I don't care."

"Hales," Brooke whined "you're no fun."

She pouted and resumed her previous activity of bouncing on top of Haley, while still straddling her. When Haley had first met Brooke back in their sophomore year in high school, things like this had made her really uncomfortable but she soon learned that Brooke Davis knew nothing of personal space, or discretion for that matter. Some of the things that would come spewing out of her roommates mouth would leave even the most promiscuous of people with their jaws hanging agape.

"Whoa!" Lucas' voice broke Haley out of her thoughts. "I wouldn't mind waking up to this every morning."

"You perv!" Haley screeched as she reached behind her and threw her pillow at Lucas. Unfortunately she didn't realize that that meant she didn't have a pillow behind her own head and as she lay back down she hit her head against the headboard.

"Ouch!" Lucas laughed from the doorway, holding his hands up in surrender when Haley shot daggers his way.

"Oh c'mon Hales, you've been a total klutz since you were five years old, are you even surprised?"

"I guess not." Haley conceded as she joined in the laughter. "But seriously Brooke," she muttered, still giggling, "get off me." With that she gave Brooke a shoved that sent her tumbling off the bed and onto the floor with a loud 'thump'.

"Haaaaaaaley!" Brooke whined. "Now my butt hurts!"

"I can take care of that." Lucas said with a playful smirk as he walked up to his fiancée.

"Really?" Brooke raised her eyebrows.

"Oh yeah." Lucas smirked.

"Oh no!" Haley interrupted. "Hell no! None of that in here, actually scratch that, none of that _ever_! Luke is like my brother. That's like my brother and my best friend, something I never ever want to think about. Ever."

"Well, actually Hales," Lucas cut in "you met Brooke _because_ we got together, so I think we're entitled to some PDA."

"I've put up with PDA for the past eight years Luke, no more!"

"Okay, okay." Lucas chuckled, obviously finding amusement in his best friend's extreme discomfort. "Come on Cheery, let's go get some breakfast and leave the grouch some time to sleep."

Haley grumbled to herself and lay back down, hitting her head once again.

"Wait, Luke!" she called. "Bring back my pillow!"

~*23*~

As Nathan walked into the audition room on Thursday afternoon he checked his watch and was pleased to find that he was right on time. However when he looked at the faces of the directors they seemed to be anything but pleased.

John looked at him and shook his head in disappointment.

"What?" Nathan asked. "I'm here on time!"

"Well Haley took the initiative to be here half an hour early and has been waiting for you for the past thirty minutes." John said, shooting him another disappointed glance.

"It's not my fault she's early, you told me to be here at twelve and I'm here at twelve." Nathan protested.

John looked like he wanted to say something else but Trevor quickly intervened. "You're right Nathan, we're sorry." He gave Nathan a small smile before continuing, "Today we want you and Haley to get to know each other a little better. If you go into the room across the hall she should be waiting there."

Nathan nodded and headed across the hall. He had to admit that he was a little anxious to meet Haley. He had taken Jake's advice and looked up Haley James, it seemed that she grew up in Tree Hill as well. They must have never met because he moved away so quickly. Her best friends were Brooke Davis the fashion designer and the famous author Lucas Scott, his half-brother whom he had never really met. Nathan shook his head of those thoughts as he got to the door. He took a deep breath and entered, making sure not to look up as he closed the door behind him.

~*23*~

Haley had been sitting in this room for the past half hour. She didn't mind waiting, she was a pretty patient person, and she was usually early for everything and ended up having wait anyways. But she had to admit that she was a little anxious to find out who would be playing James. The directors had told her that she would meet him today but hadn't given her any clues as to who it might be. She heard the door open and stood up, ready to greet whoever it was. The man had his back to her as he closed the door behind him.

When he turned to face her she felt everything start to fade away. It felt like time itself had stopped and she could feel her mind clouding over as she stared at him. She recognized him as Nathan Scott, famous Hollywood actor. She had always known he was handsome but she never imagined that he would be this…gorgeous. He was tall, over six feet for sure; he was _definitely_ toned and had short raven black hair. But what caught her attention the most was his piercing blue eyes. They looked darker now and she noticed that he was staring back at her, his mouth slightly agape.

When Nathan had turned around he felt his breath catch in his throat. He had seen many pictures of Haley James but nothing came remotely close to the real thing. He felt his jaw drop as he kept staring at her. Her flowing blond hair, chocolate brown eyes, and her full pink lips. God he wanted to kiss those lips. He had never wanted anything more in his life. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. _Beautiful?_ _What the hell is wrong with me? _He thought to himself. Nathan Scott does **not** call girls beautiful, hot maybe, but never beautiful.

Suddenly he heard her clearing her throat and realized that she must have caught him staring. He noticed her blushing and couldn't help but think how adorable it was. _Wait, first beautiful and now adorable? I must be losing my mind!_ All of a sudden Haley was waving her hand in front of his face.

"Nathan, Nathan are you okay?" she asked as she looked up at him.

Nathan quickly snapped out of his daze and looked over at Haley. His eyes locked with hers and he could feel himself getting lost again, lost in those chocolate brown orbs. He shook his head, he need to gain control of this situation. He looked over at Haley but she still seemed to be lost in her own little world.

"So…" He said, breaking her out of her daze. She looked up abruptly to see him smirking at her. She could feel herself blushing. She wondered if he'd caught her staring.

"So…" she repeated trying to ease the tension.

"We're in here so that we can get to know each other better…" Nathan started.

"Yeah…" Haley wasn't really sure where he was going with this.

"The wall or the table?" He asked, his cocky smirk full-blown now and his eyes twinkling with mischief.

Haley had to stop herself from thinking about how sexy he looking in that moment. It would be awful if he caught her staring again. "What are you talking about?" Haley asked, all the while trying to rid herself of her thoughts.

"Where do you want to have sex? Against the wall or on the table?"

Haley gasped, she couldn't believe the nerve of this guy. "Neither!" she exclaimed.

"Well, I personally find the floor a little uncomfortable but if that's what you want…"

Haley walked right up to Nathan and slapped him across the face. "You son of a-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What's going on here?" Trevor asked as he came into the room.

"I don't know." Nathan shrugged. "Something's up her ass." He said pointing to Haley, an innocent smile playing on his face.

"How dare you!" Haley started for Nathan again. She was never usually the violent type but something about this guy had her wanting to slap that innocent smile right off his incredibly handsome face. _Wait, incredibly handsome?_

"Hey there!" Nathan said, backing away with is arms up in surrender. "No need for violence."

"Ughhh!" Haley cried in frustration as she stormed towards the door. "I'm really sorry Trevor but can we pick this up tomorrow. I'm not feeling it today."

"Yeah, she's definitely not feeling it." Nathan added.

"Nathan, can you shut up!" Haley looked at him irritated.

"Haley, can you make me!" He said, imitating her.

Haley stuck her tongue out at him and turned back to Trevor. "Again, I'm really sorry. If we could do this again tomorrow that would be great."

"No problem." Trevor said, smiling at her.

"Thank you." Haley smiled sincerely at Trevor and he pulled her in for a goodbye hug.

Haley had learned that Trevor was a nice guy, he could be a little too 'friendly' at times but he seemed to be an all around good person.

Nathan looked over at Haley and Trevor hugging and felt something tug at his insides. His fists balled up at his sides and his body went tense. He saw the way Trevor looked at her, it was obvious he had a thing for her. But as he watched her in his arms she didn't seem to be complaining either. _Is there something going on between them?_ He thought to himself. He suddenly had the strongest urge to punch Trevor and had to put his hands in his pockets to stop himself.

He suddenly noticed that Haley was giving him a funny look over Trevor's shoulder. She must have noticed his death glare. He should have been ashamed but he wasn't, that Trevor guy deserved to be put in his place.

Nathan didn't think he could bear to look at the two hugging anymore without breaking something. He quickly made his way out of the room and made sure to 'accidentally' bump into Trevor on his way out, pushing him into the wall and breaking his hug with Haley. Nathan knew he was being immature but he didn't care.

As Nathan made his way out onto the street he decided to hit the gym. He needed a good punching bag and some time to think. Today had definitely been a weird day and he had a feeling that this was only the beginning.

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**I hope you liked it, I worked really hard on this chapter but I'm still a bit unsure so please leave a review and tell me what you think. I accept constructive criticism as well, I only want to become a better writer. The more reviews I get the faster I update!**


	4. Plane Rides and Sauce Fights

**Author's Note: I'm sorry for the wait, I meant to update on Wednesday but I got some shocking news and it took some time to adjust, my family and I have been going through a really rough time recently, so my update got a little postponed. Don't worry though, when I commit to something I don't back down so I will be updating. I want everything I post to be good quality so I didn't want to just write something for the sake of putting it up, you guys deserve more than that. I really hope you like this chapter. Please leave a review and tell me what you think. I want to thank everyone for the reviews, they were really awesome and totally made my week :)**

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It was Friday and Haley was now back in the same room where she had first met Nathan the day before. Trevor had arranged another meeting and had told them both that he had important news for them. Unfortunately he had left to go get their "surprise" and that meant that she was now alone in the room with Nathan.

He was sitting at the table across from her and as she looked at him she noticed that he appeared to be checking her out. She pretended to ignore it for a little while but it was becoming hard to ignore. She cleared her throat slightly, hoping to get his attention and was pleased when he looked up at her startled. She raised her eyebrows at him questioningly and noticed him quickly avoid her glance as he busied himself with looking for scratch marks in the table. She had been expecting a witty response or one or his trademark smirks but she was surprised to find that he actually looked guilty for being caught staring.

She noticed him sneak another glance at her to see if she was still looking and when he realized she was he quickly looked back down. Haley tried to suppress a giggle at Nathan's antics but failed miserably and he looked up at her as the sound escaped from her lips.

Nathan's initial response was to glare at her for making fun of him, but as the sound of her laughter reached his ears a smile formed on his face. He revelled in the sound of her laughter, she had a beautiful laugh, but even more than that he revelled in the fact that he was the one that had made her laugh.

He would never admit it to anyone but Peyton was right. He had never had such an intense attraction to anyone in such a short amount of time. She was screwing with his head. When she had caught him checking her out he had actually felt guilty. He had _never_ felt guilty for checking out a girl before.

He wasn't sure what to do about this attraction but he was sure of one thing: he needed to get back to being himself. Haley was messing with his head and he couldn't have that.

Nathan heard a noise coming from the door and looked to see a very sly looking Trevor coming back in with something hidden behind his back.

"I have your surprises for you…" Trevor said softly but instead of looking enthusiastic like he should have, he looked antsy as he stood there shuffling his feet, eyes darting around the room. Trevor glanced up at Nathan before moving to the opposite corner of the room, he took a deep breath and pulled out the surprise from behind his back.

There, in his hands, were two plane tickets. Nathan got up to see where they were to, but as he stepped forward Trevor stepped back, eyeing Nathan wearily. Haley seemed to notice this and motioned for Nathan to stay where he was while she got the tickets from Trevor.

She took a quick glance at them and a smile broke out on her face.

"Really?" She asked looking at Trevor.

"Really what?" Nathan asked, moving closer to Haley to try and get better view of the tickets but she was now hold them against her chest.

"Yup," Trevor replied "The producers think it would be the perfect place to film the movie."

"Where would be the perfect place to film the movie?" Nathan asked but neither of the two payed him any attention.

"Wow that's so amazing! I can't believe it." Haley gushed.

"Can't believe what?" Nathan asked. When he still got no answer Nathan started to get frustrated. "Guys what the hell are you talking about!"

"Nathan, calm down," Trevor said as he looked over at Nathan.

"Well, I wouldn't have to calm down if you guys just told me where those plane tickets are for." Nathan exclaimed.

Haley looked up at him slightly confused. "Nathan all you had to do was ask, you didn't need to freak out." He could tell from the sly look on her face that she had been playing him all along.

Nathan was about to protest but decided it wasn't worth it. "Never mind." He muttered as he reached over and took the plane tickets out of her hand.

"Hey!" Haley protested but all Nathan could focus on were the letters on the plane ticket that read: TREE HILL.

~*23*~

Nathan sat there waiting for the plane to take off. He read over his lines one more time before sticking them under his seat and sighing, he couldn't believe he was on his way to Tree Hill. He hadn't been there in 8 years and he wasn't sure if this trip would be a good thing or not. He turned his head slightly to see Haley making little notes on her script. He looked closer and started laughing when he realised what she was doing.

Haley heard Nathan's laughter and looked up at him. "What?" she asked.

"Are you- Are you fixing the spelling mistakes on the script?" He said between bouts of laughter.

"What's wrong with that?" she asked indignantly.

Nathan just shook his head and continued to laugh.

Haley gave a little huff and went back to correcting the script.

After about five more minutes Nathan looked over at her again. She was looking intently at the script was she penciled in her corrections. Nathan smirked to himself, he had an idea. He reached under his seat, pulled out his script and waited. Right when Haley was about to write something he dropped his script on her hand so that she messed up.

"Nathan!" Haley screeched, making the other first-class passengers turn. Haley quickly lowered her voice and whisper-yelled. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Well…" Nathan smirked, "I figured you could correct my script as well. You know, since you're such a nerd and all."

"Well I won't" Haley huffed as she picked it up to hand it back to him. "And I am _not _a nerd!"

As Haley lifted his script off her own she noticed that her script was covered in brown splotches. "What the…? She muttered as she turned Nathan script over to look at the backside.

"Nathan!" Haley exclaimed, once again earning annoyed looks from the other passengers. "What is _this_?" She asked as she motioned towards the brown goo that covered back of his script.

Nathan looked over at it thoughtfully before dipping his finger in it and putting in it his mouth. "_This_" Nathan smirked "Appears to be sauce," he then looked at his meal tray before looking up at Haley with an innocent smile "I must have _accidentally _put my script on my prime rib before I gave it to you."

Haley looked up at him with fire in her eyes and Nathan couldn't help but think how sexy she was when she got all fired up.

"Well then I guess I should give you your script back." Haley said as she shoved the script against his chest, getting sauce all over his shirt in the process. Nathan pulled the script off of himself and when he looked up at Haley she was surprised to see him smirking. _Why is he smirking? He should be angry, very angry. _

Haley was broken out of her thoughts as she saw Nathan pulling his shirt over his head. "I knew you wanted me Haley, but you didn't have to spill food on me just to get me to take my shirt off. You could have just asked." Nathan drawled.

Haley would have responded if she hadn't been so busy staring at his chest, his well defined, toned, muscular chest. She wanted to look away but she couldn't. She just sat there looking like an idiot as she blatantly stared at Nathan's ripped body.

When Haley didn't respond to his teasing Nathan looked down to see her sitting completely still. He wondered if maybe he had taken his joking too far and she had gotten upset. "Haley, look I'm sorry, it was just a joke."

Haley shook her head slightly and looked up at him. "It's okay," she said stiffly and quickly turned her head to look out the window. Nathan looked at her strangely, her voice sounded different. It sounded almost strained. Nathan thought back to when she was staring at him and a mischievous smile spread across his face.

"Were you checking me out?" Nathan asked.

Haley turned to him looking shocked, her cheeks bright red. "What- no- of course not!" Haley stuttered.

"Yes, yes you were. You were checking me out. Haley James was checking me out." Nathan looked over at her. "I can't say I blame you, I _am_ pretty sexy."

"No, you're an ass." Haley retorted.

"An ass that you find incredibly sexy."

Haley turned her head towards the window so he couldn't see how red her cheeks were. She couldn't believe that he had caught her staring. The two spent the rest of the ride like that, Haley with her head turned towards the window while Nathan boasted on and on about how much Haley wanted him.

By the time they arrived Haley couldn't wait to get off the flight. Sitting this close to Nathan was messing with her head. As soon as the plane landed Haley moved to get past Nathan and off the flight. As she did this her hand brushed Nathan's chest and she felt a tingles run through her hand and spread through her body like wildfire. She looked up at Nathan and found a bewildered expression on his face. He'd felt it too.

This just reinforced the fact that Haley needed to get away from Nathan. There was no way she could ever be remotely attracted to this jerk. _Was there?_

~*23*~

Brooke and Lucas stood there at the airport waiting to see Haley. When they found out that Haley's new movie would be filmed in Tree Hill they decided to come as well, they figured it would be a nice break from Hollywood. Brooke had been thinking about setting up a franchise in Tree Hill anyways and Lucas thought it might inspire him to write a new novel. They had taken an earlier flight and had already gotten unpacked at Lucas' house. Brooke was bouncing around looking over numerous people's heads in order to try and find her best friend. Lucas suddenly jumped as Brooke let out and excited squeal.

"There they are, there they…OH MY GOD?!"

"Brooke, what the hell?!" Lucas put his hands over his ears as he looked around to see what had make Brooke shriek like that.

There walking towards them was a shirtless Nathan followed by a very flustered looking Haley. Brooke ran up to them and screamed.

"Oh my god, you guys had sex on the plane?! Haley does this mean you lost your-"

"Brooke!" Haley shrieked. "We did _not_ have sex on the plane!"

"But we came pretty close," Nathan smirked.

Brooke's eyes widened and she turned to look at Haley.

"No, we did not." She then turned to Lucas who had come up from behind Brooke and was looking at her shocked. "Lucas, I'm serious, we didn't do anything. It's a long story but nothing happened. I swear."

Nathan looked suspiciously from Lucas' relieved face to Haley who was still trying frantically to prove that nothing had happened and had began to recall at the events that had happened on the plane. As Nathan watched Haley try so hard to prove to Lucas that nothing was going on, he felt that weird tugging sensation return. He could feel the anger and jealousy boiling in his blood at just the possibility that they might have something going on.

"We wouldn't want your _boyfriend_ thinking there was something going on now would we." Nathan sneered at Lucas, interrupting Haley's story.

"What the hell, man?" Lucas took a step forward. He then looked at him closer and said accusingly, "Are you jealous?"

"What, no!" Nathan exclaimed.

"Do you like Haley because I swear man if you do…" Lucas trailed off as he raised his fist menacingly.

"Lucas back off." Haley stepped between the two of them and looked up at Lucas.

"Yeah Lucas," Nathan taunted, "listen to your _girlfriend._" Nathan said the word with such spite. Even saying Haley belonged to someone else was making him even more jealous than he already was.

Haley looked up at Nathan sharply. "First of all, shut up. Second of all, Lucas is _not_ my boyfriend. And third of all," Haley looked at up at him, "that is no way to talk to your big brother."

Nathan's eyes narrowed as he looked at her.

Haley raised her eyebrows as she silently dared him to respond. Lucas had told her about his half-brother a long time ago but she had never met him until last week. From the moment she had seen him she had recognized him as Nathan Scott, her best friend's half-brother but she had chosen not to say anything until now. She knew that they didn't acknowledge each other as brothers but they were going to have to learn to get along if they were going to be here together for the next year and a half.

As much as she didn't want to admit it, she also felt a little pride that for the first time it was _her_ who got under _his _skin, instead of the other way around. She stood there waiting for a witty response but instead he muttered something about being tired and going home and walked off towards the doors.

Haley turned back to Brooke and Lucas to find Brooke staring curiously at her while Lucas looked somewhat annoyed.

"Haley, I told you that we are_ not_ brothers" Lucas said.

"Look Lucas," Haley sighed, "You too are going to be here for a while, Tree Hill is a small town and you're going to be seeing a lot of each other. You didn't really get the chance to know each other before so maybe you should just try now."

"I thought you hated him." Lucas looked at her suspiciously.

"I do hate him," Haley said, "he's a pain in the ass. But I know that you're curious, you want to know if you two could actually get along. I may hate the guy but you should have the chance to get to know your brother, even though he's an arrogant jerk, at least you won't have to spend the rest of your life wondering if you two could have ever actually been brothers."

Lucas looked at Haley for a second before pulling her into a hug. "Thank you Hales."

She hugged him back. "No problem, buddy."

Brooke squealed and clapped her hands. "This is awesome, now when Haley and Hotshot get married, Haley and I will be sister-in-laws…kinda."

Haley and Lucas looked at Brooke quizzically for a moment before laughing. Lucas put his arm around Haley and the three headed out towards the cab.

"Hey Haley?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah?" she answered.

"Imagine what you would do if Nathan and I became best friends." Lucas joked.

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**There it is. I hope you liked it. Please review they totally make my day and really motivate me to write more, meaning faster updates ;)**


	5. It's A Start

**Author's Note: I want to thank everyone for the reviews, they were really awesome and never failed to make me smile. During the week I am pretty busy so if I don't hav time to update then I will usually add in another one over the week-end. I personally don't like waiting long for updates so I will be updating as often as possible and if my time frees up I might even be updating every day at some parts. The reviews for the last two chapter hav definitly inspired me to update two days in a row today. Well it's like 1:00 in the morning so I guess it's not really two days in a row but you get the point. Again thank you the reviews and please leave some more. I hope you enjoy this chapter...**

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As Nathan walked into Tree Hill High he could feel the memories flooding back. He could remember walking down these halls as girls eyed him suggestively and guys looked on in envy. Those were the days… That was before he had to move to Oak Lake.

It wasn't that he wasn't popular in Oak Lake, because he was. He ruled the school there, but he never had any real friends like Peyton or Jake. The closest he had was one of his team-mates Tim, but the guy was a complete tool. He wondered what it would have been like if he had stayed in Tree Hill. Maybe he would have gotten to know Haley, in those three months before he had moved to Oak Lake he had never met her. He wasn't surprised though, from what he'd heard they must have hung out in very different crowds.

As Nathan continued to walk down the halls, lost in his thoughts and memories, he started to notice that there were random sticky notes posted around the school. The sticky note on the tutor centre said 'James asks Beth for tutoring: Scene 2' and the one on the classrooms read 'James and Beth kiss: Scene 8'. The sticky notes continued all around the school and Nathan walked around reading them.

He had just finished reading the sticky note on the gym door when he felt a small body crash into his chest. He reached out his arms and wrapped them around the person in front of them to prevent them from falling.

As he looked down he saw the chocolate eyes of Haley James staring back at him. As he looked into those eyes he could feel himself getting lost again. Before he could stop himself he started to lean in, he had spent the past two weeks dreaming about what she would taste like and he could feel his lips tingling in anticipation. He could feel her warm breath on his face and he closed his eyes…

"Nathan! Haley! Where are you guys?" Nathan groaned out loud as he heard Trevor's voice yelling through the school.

Haley sprang out of his arms looking extremely flustered.

Nathan looked past her to see Trevor making his way down the hall.

"Nathan, Haley, there you are!" Trevor exclaimed in an enthusiastic tone.

"Trevor." Nathan muttered through gritted teeth. He was pissed that this guy had interrupted the kiss, he had been _so_ close…

"How come you guys are down here?"

"What? Us?" Haley stuttered looking extremely uncomfortable "I had just been looking around when this idiot bumped into me." Haley laughed nervously.

"What are you talking about?" Nathan looked over at her "_You_ bumped into _me_. In fact, if I hadn't caught you then you would be flat on your ass right now."

"If you had been looking where you were going, then you wouldn't have bumped into me and you wouldn't have had to catch me to prevent me from falling flat on my ass." Haley retorted.

"Whatever." Nathan scoffed.

"Wow, real mature Nathan."

"Okay, okay guys" Trevor cut in. "How about we just start filming."

"Fine with me." Nathan said.

Trevor took out his phone to call for the crew to bring in the extras so that they could start filming. However when he hung up he had an apologetic look on his face.

"Sorry guys, but there's some problems with the extras so we won't be able to do this scene today, but if you like we can head over to the docks and do one of the other scenes with just the two of you."

"Sure, sounds great." Haley said as she and Trevor started walking out of the school and started the walk towards the docks.

"Wait." Nathan called after them. "No one asked for my opinion!"

Haley turned around to look at him. "That's because your opinion doesn't matter," she stated matter-of-factly before she continued walking.

"Jeez Haley," Nathan exclaimed after he'd caught up to them "Maybe if you weren't such a bitch people would like you better."

"And maybe if you weren't such an arrogant jerk people would like you better." Haley retorted.

"Ouch Haley that hurt, really I think I'm gonna cry." Nathan mocked sarcastically.

"Well you do have a constant need for attention…" Haley started.

"What do you know we're here!" Trevor interrupted loudly.

The crew had driven up and were already setting up. Nathan and Haley were given a script and some time to look it over. Once they were ready they took their seats at the table and started the scene.

Everything was running smoothly until about halfway through the scene when Nathan took out the crackerjack bracelet and placed on Haley's wrist.

"Don't say I never gave you anything." He said with a smirk. The look in his eyes was almost challenging, as if he was goading her on.

At this point she was supposed to look at him intrigued but instead she found herself rolling her eyes.

"Cut!" Trevor yelled. "Haley what was that?" He asked her.

"It was the look he was giving me, it was like he was _trying_ to piss me off" She defended, "Besides," she looked up at Trevor, "how am I supposed to act attracted to _that_." She asked pointing over to Nathan.

"Hey!" Nathan exclaimed standing up. "I will let you know that I am _very_ attractive, in fact, I won sexiest man of the year. You are _lucky_ to be working with me, I mean look at me," he said pointing to himself, "and then look at _you_." He motioned over to her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked accusingly as she took a step closer.

"It means what it sounds like." He took a step towards her as well.

"Both of you cut it out RIGHT NOW!" Trevor boomed.

Both Nathan and Haley looked over at him surprised, he didn't seem like the type to raise his voice.

"Throughout this movie you two are supposed to act like you're falling in love, not like you hate each other's guts. You guys have chemistry, I can see it, but you _need_ to get your act together or so help me God I _will_ find replacements." Trevor looked at them both before taking a deep breath and regaining his composure. "I suggest you spend the rest of the day getting to know each other and working things out and we will pick this up tomorrow."

He then told the crew to pack up their stuff and they started heading out.

Nathan and Haley looked at each other for a moment.

"So…" Haley started, "where do you want to go to get to know each other?" Haley asked.

"We could go back to my place…" Nathan stated as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Ew no!" Swatted him on the arm, "Doesn't that ever get old?"

"Doesn't what ever get old?" He asked her.

"The sexual innuendo?"

"Nope." He shook his head.

Haley sighed and sat back down on the table as she tried to think of a place they would both like to go. Suddenly she got an idea.

"I know where we could go!" She exclaimed excitedly.

"Where?" Nathan asked, not sharing her enthusiasm.

"The Rivercourt! It's this place that Luke and I used to go all the time when we were in high school."

"Hell no!" Nathan stated. "I'm not going to some place that you and Lucas used to hang out, why would I want to go there?"

"Did I mention it's a basket-ball court?" She said with a smile.

He seemed to ponder it for a minute before conceding.

"Alright let's go."

~*23*~

As Nathan and Haley walked onto the Rivercourt Nathan took a good look around, the cement court had chain nets on either end with a picnic table off to the side by the river. Haley walked over to a bush and pulled out a dingy looking basket-ball before handing it to Nathan. She then sat herself down in the middle off the court and looked up at him.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"It's called sitting." She told him.

"Yes, I know that," he said, already getting irritated, "what I meant is, why are you sitting in the middle of the court? How am I supposed to play?"

She looked up at him for a moment before shrugging, "You're not."

Nathan looked at Haley expectantly, waiting for her to elaborate.

"Look Nathan," Haley sighed "we need to learn to get along and we're not going to do that if we just ignore each other. If we are going to be working together for the next year and a half we need to at least learn to be civil towards one another."

Nathan looked at Haley like she was insane.

"Yeah," he scoffed "when hell freezes over."

"Nathan…" Haley started.

"Okay, okay whatever Haley. I'll try to be civil or whatever." All he wanted was to play basket-ball in peace. _Was that too much to ask?_

He looked over at Haley expecting her to move and let him play but she didn't seem like she was planning to move anytime soon.

"So, what's your favourite colour?" she asked.

"Blue. Why?" Nathan looked at her confused.

"Favourite number?"

"Twenty-three…"

"Favourite fo-"

"Haley why are you asking me all these pointless questions?" What Nathan really wanted to ask her was a lot less appropriate but he was doing his best to partake in this civil agreement and not make any rude remarks.

"Because, we're getting to know each other."

"Okay…"

"I figure it's a start." Haley stated.

"I guess…" Personally Nathan thought all this was bullshit. There was no way the two of them could possibly get along. They were complete opposites. It was only a matter of time until another fight broke out. Nathan didn't want to share his thoughts though, he knew that if the directors found out that there was no way they could get along then one of them would be replaced. It was obvious that the directors liked Haley better than him, meaning he would be the one to loose his role. If Haley was this eager for them to try and get to know each other then he might as well give it a shot. At least that way when things didn't work out he could say he tried.

Haley seemed to think for a moment before her face lit up. For some strange reason seeing her face light up like that made Nathan's heart beat faster. "I know! How about I ask you a question and then you ask me one? Since I asked you two already you can have two free ones."

Nathan looked over at her for second before sighing. "Okay," Nathan tucked the ball under his arm and went to sit by Haley. "First question..."

~*23*~

Nathan and Haley were now lying in the centre of the Rivercourt as Nathan tossed the basket-ball up in the air. Two hours had gone by since they had arrived. At first Nathan had only agreed to Haley's little question game because he knew she wouldn't leave him alone if he didn't but somewhere along the way he actually started to have fun. They had eventually given up on the game and just started normal conversation.

"This basket-ball is in such bad condition." Nathan chuckled as he looked at the slightly flat basket-ball that was covered in dirt and grass stains.

"Well, that's probably because it's been hidden in that bush since Lucas and I were 8 years old." Haley said with smile.

"Do you play?" Nathan asked, looking over at her.

"Nah, I suck at sports," Haley laughed, "especially basket-ball. Lucas tried to teach me once in high school but after a broken nose and a black eye he gave up."

"You broke his nose?!" Nathan laughed incredulously.

"It was an accident!" Haley defended. "I aimed for the net, I just missed."

"Yeah, and hit Lucas' nose!" Nathan laughed.

"Shut up!" Haley swatted him in the chest.

"Wow Haley, first you break your best friend's nose and now you're hitting me. We need to work on that violence issue you've got going on."

"Not as much as we need to work on deflating your ego." Haley retorted.

"I have just have a healthy self esteem." Nathan defended.

"Having that much 'self esteem', as you call it, is _definitely _not healthy."

"Whatever, you're just jealous."

"Jealous of what?" Haley laughed.

"Of my self-esteem."

"Yeah that's it." Haley said sarcastically "you caught me, I'm jealous of your self-esteem."

"Glad you can admit it." Nathan said with a cocky grin.

Haley turned to smile at Nathan but her smile wasn't playful anymore, it was sincere. "I'm glad we can be friends Nathan."

"Yeah, me too." Nathan smiled back at her but he felt something tug inside of him. As much as Nathan was happy they could be friends he felt kind of sad at the same time. He shook the feeling away, a lot had happened today and he was just in a weird mood. Yeah, that was it. It was the only explanation. _Why else would he be upset that Haley thought of him as a friend?_

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**I hope you like it. Please review to tell me what you think, if you have any questions or suggestions, or parts that you liked. I reply to all my reviews so please leave one for me because they really make my day!**


	6. The Surprise Visit

**Author's Note: Okay so first I want to thank everyone for the super awesome reviews! As I said most of the time there might not be many updates during the week but there will usually be lots on the weekends when I have more free time. Because I got so many awesome reviews I decided to update a day early. I know this chapter isn't the most intense chapter and it was actually supposed to be longer but I decided to split it into two chapters so that I could update earlier. I don't think it's my best work but I tried to make it as good as possible.**

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It had been a week since Nathan and Haley had decided to become friends and now the two had just finished re-filming the tutoring scene they had messed up the week before. Brooke and Lucas had decided to tag along and were sitting behind Trevor as they watched the scene unfold. Lucas looked over at Brooke to find her smirking.

"Brooke…" he said with apprehension, "I know that look…"

"Come on Lucas! Couldn't you see the sexual tension up there. I mean it's only a matter of time until they rip each other's clothes off and-"

"Cheery don't you _dare_ finish that sentence! That's my best friend and my…umm…"

"Your brother." Brooke looked at him pointedly. "Lucas you do realise that Haley, the girl who hated Nathan's guts last week, has managed to become friends with him, and yet you two, who are brothers, still haven't spoken a word since that day at the airport."

"I haven't seen him since then." Lucas defended.

"You're seeing him now." Brooke countered.

Lucas noticed Haley walking their way and took that as his escape. "Hey Haley!" he called out. "That was awesome!"

Haley blushed. "Thanks" she replied as she reached the two of them. The three of them continued to talk for another ten minutes before a familiar voice cut their conversation short.

"B. Davis?"

Brooke turned in her seat to see Peyton and Jake making their way towards them.

"P. Sawyer!" she exclaimed.

"J. Jagielski" Lucas mocked.

"L. Scott" Jake exclaimed, playing along and earning both of them a smack on the head from their respective partners.

"Hey!" Both guys exclaimed.

"Peyton? Jake? What are you guys doing here?" The group turned around to see a very confused looking Nathan.

"Surprise!" Peyton exclaimed, sticking her arms out for emphasis.

"My parents called and said they wanted us to come stay with them for a while, and we figured since you were here anyways it would be the perfect time for a vacation." Jake explained.

"Wait." Brooke looked between the two. "You two know each other?"

Peyton looked at Brooke with a slight smile. "Brooke, you remember that ass I dated in freshman year, the one who moved away ?"

Brooke nodded.

"Well…" Peyton motioned to Nathan.

"Wait, so _this_ is the ass you dated!" Brooke exclaimed.

"Hey, I am _not_ an ass!" Nathan protested.

"You two dated?" Haley looked between Nathan and Peyton. Nathan was dark, tall and handsome and Peyton was thin, blond and beautiful. Haley could easily see why the two of them dated, but for some reason just thinking of the two of them dating made Haley resent Peyton a little. _If Nathan likes girls like Peyton then what hope is there for me?_ She thought to herself. She was nothing like Peyton. Not that it mattered because she wasn't interested in Nathan._ Nope. Definitely not interested._

She was broken out of her confused thoughts by Nathan's deep husky voice, which at the moment sounded a little panicked. "It was a long long time ago and it didn't mean anything. It was just physical and there are no feelings whatsoever between us, there never were." Nathan rambled, and although it might have seemed like he was addressing the whole group his eyes rested on Haley's the whole time, almost as if he were trying to convince her that he and Peyton had no feelings for each other.

Peyton looked between a jealous looking Haley and a frantic Nathan and couldn't help the smirk from spreading across her face. "You guys look like such a couple right now."

"What? No we don't!" Both of the exclaimed simultaneously as they turned their heads to give her an incredulous look.

"Oh you _so_ do." Brooke exclaimed. She then turned to Lucas. "See Broody, I told you there was sexual tension." Brooke announced with conviction.

"Brooke!" Haley admonished. "There is no…" she flushed before whispering, "sexual tension."

Nathan looked at her red face and embarrassed expression and couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Haley crossed her arms over her chest and turned to look at him. "What are you laughing at?"

"Your face!" He managed between fits of laughter.

"So your laughing at my face, huh?" Haley raised her eyebrow. She then turned around and started walking in the opposite direction while trying to keep the smile off her face.

Nathan stopped laughing when he realised how his comment night have sounded. He noticed that Haley was walking away and realised he might have actually upset her. He started running after her. "Wait, Haley! I didn't mean it like that! I'm sorry, it was just your expression…"

"Man, that boy is _so_ whipped!" Peyton smiled.

"Definitely." Brooke agreed.

They all watched on in amusement as Haley turned around and Nathan noticed the twinkle in her eye. "That'll teach you to make fun of my face." She said with a smirk of her own.

"Wait- but you-" Nathan realised what she had been doing.

"You're not going to get away with that." He said with a mischievous look.

Haley noticed his expression and became a little apprehensive. "What do you mean?" she asked him suspiciously.

"You're going to say…" Nathan thought about it for a minute, "Nathan Scott is the hottest man on earth and I am so lucky I get to work with him."

"Never." Haley adamantly.

"Really?" Nathan asked with a sly smirk, taking a step closer.

"Really." Haley responded with a little less resolve as she took a step back.

Nathan then reached out started tickling her. "Nathan, stop!" She squealed between giggles. "Stop now!"

"Not until you say it."

"Okay, okay." Haley relented. "Nathan Scott- is the ho- hottest man on- earth and I- am so lucky- to get to wo- work with him." Haley managed between fits of laughter.

Nathan stopped tickling her and looked down at her with that same cocky smirk. "Why Haley, I never knew you felt that way."

"Whatever." She teased playfully as they walked back to their friends.

When they got there they noticed all of them were giving them secretive smiles.

"So…" Brooke started. "You two looked like you were having fun."

"_Lot's_ of fun." Jake added.

"Well we did agree to be friends." Haley pointed out.

"Yeah, you two _definitely_ looked like friends." Peyton commented.

"Peyton…" Nathan warned. "Remember that promise you made?" He looked at her pointedly.

"Yeah but that was when you were drooling over the T.V. Haley, now that you're drooling over the real Haley it's a whole different story."

"Peyton!" Nathan yelled. He quickly turned to see a bright red Haley looking at the ground.

"You were drooling over Haley huh?" Brooke smirked.

"Dude, you watched one of Haley's chick flicks?" Lucas asked.

"Peyton made me!" Nathan defended.

"Not that you minded." Peyton countered.

"Lucas what is wrong with my movies?!" Haley turned to glare at Lucas.

"Nothing! It's just that they're chick flicks!"

"What's wrong with chick flicks?" Brooke cut in.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Jake interrupted before the argument could escalated any further. He then noticed that the five pairs of angry eyes were now focused on him.

"So…" Jake commented, smiling nervously. "What a coincidence that both Nathan and Haley's friends all happen to know each other."

"Well, we did all go to the same school…" Peyton started but was silenced by Jake's pleading look. He needed to get the heat off of himself.

"I know, it is isn't it!" Brooke exclaimed. She then started talking about the fashionably impaired student that had attended Tree Hill High. As everyone else pretended to be engrossed in what she was saying Jake inwardly breathed a sigh of relief that the heat was off of him.

"So as I was saying," Brooke continued "We should all hang out! We could go down to Karen's Café ad then rent a movie and go back to Haley's place." Everyone nodded their heads in agreement, partially because they thought it was a good idea but mostly because they just wanted Brooke to shut up so they could go home. At this point most of the crew was packed up and everyone was starting to clear out.

"So we'll at meet at Karen's Café at six o'clock sharp, deal? You guys better not be late!" Brooke warned as everyone started to go their separate ways.

Just as Haley was about to leave to get into her own car she felt Brooke tug her arm. "Oh no Tutorgirl! You're coming with me, once I'm done with you Hotshot won't know what hit him!"

~*23*~

"Brooke I am _not_ wearing this!" Haley and Brooke were now over at Lucas' getting ready for the movie night.

"Tutorgirl!" Brooke whined, "You look so hot in that!"

"No," Haley glared at her, "I look like a stripper!"

Brooke had dressed Haley up in a denim mini skirt paired with a dark purple satin scoop neck halter top and four inch heels.

"Fine," Brooke relented, "You can change out of the skirt if you wear the top and the heels."

"But the top is too low," Haley protested as she pulled at the low neckline once again.

Brooke quickly smacked her hand away. "Nope, you are wearing that top and that's final."

Haley considered arguing some more but once look at Brooke's face told her that it wasn't going to get her anywhere.

"Fine," Haley went off to change into a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, grumbling all the way.

"Your going to thank me when Hotshot can't keep his eyes off of you!" Brooke called after her.

"We're just friends." Haley called back from the bathroom where she was changing.

"Whatever you say." Brooke said to herself with a smile. Haley may be in denial about her feelings for Nathan but they were there. She could see the lust in Haley's eyes every time she looked at him, and the way she brightened at the sound of his name. Haley could deny it all she wanted to but Brooke knew that one day she would have to face her feelings and if Brooke Davis had anything to say about it, that day would be coming very, very soon.

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**I know a lot didn't happen in this chapter and I'm sorry but don't worry, next chapter will be the movie night! Please review and tell me what you liked and what you think I should do better. I have this story planned out but nothing is set in stone. Please tell me your opinions on the story so far and on what is to come. I am very open to all kinds of suggestions and opinions so please leave a review! Lots of reviews will encourage me to update super early, maybe in the next couple days (wink wink) :P Thanks for all the support!**


	7. Just Friends

**Author's Note: Thanks so much for the reviews, they were really awesome and really inspired me to post this chapter up soon. This chapter is filled with Naleyness so I hope you enjoy!**

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It was now six thirty and Nathan Peyton and Jake were sitting at Karen's Café waiting for the other three to arrive. Lucas had called earlier to let them know that they would be running a little late but that had been twenty minutes ago.

"What could be taking them so-" Nathan's sentence was cut short as Haley walked through the door. She looked absolutely breathtaking. She was wearing a purple shirt that showed of the creamy skin of her neck and dark skinny jeans that hugged her curves perfectly. Her make-up was light and Nathan couldn't help but notice her glossed pink lips. God, he wanted so badly to take her in his arms and ravage those lips. He could just imagine how amazing they would taste…

"Nathan!" Peyton whispered loud enough for everyone to hear. "Close your mouth!"

Nathan quickly closed his mouth and swallowed audibly before turning to glare at a smirking Peyton. He looked back at Haley to find her blushing profusely and couldn't help the heat that spread through his body at the sight of her pink cheeks. He could feel himself starting to zone out on her again when Brooke's voice broke him from his thoughts.

"See Tutorgirl, I told you this outfit would make Hotshot blow his fuse." She said with a triumphant smirk as she and Lucas took a seat beside Jake.

"Brooke I told you already. _We're. Just. Friends._" Haley enunciated each word as she went to sit beside Nathan. As she sat down she took a moment to look over at him. He was wearing a pair of dark jeans and a light blue button down shirt that brought out the colour of his eyes. She also noticed how his shirt hugged his muscles in all the right places. As much as she hated to admit it, she could see why Nathan was so cocky, he looked like a Greek god with his dark hair and his captivating dark blue eyes. Not to mention his amazing body. The way his muscles-

"Yeah because friends _definitely_ look at each other like that." Brooke broke Haley out of her lustful thoughts with a knowing smile.

Nathan turned away from his conversation with Jake to see Haley bright red once again. "Like what?" He questioned, confused as to what had gotten Haley so flusted.

"Nothing, Brooke was just being…Brooke." Haley gave a small smile to Nathan before shooting a pointed look over to Brooke.

Nathan looked between the two girls for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and going back to his conversation with Jake.

Brooke noticed that the two boys were talking about basket-ball and gave Lucas a little nudge indicating that it would be a perfect chance for him to get to know his brother. Upon noticing Lucas' hesitance she decided to take matters into her own hands.

"So boys, all of you played for the Tree Hill Ravens at one point?" Brooke asked, looking genuinely interested.

Jake looked between the other two boys before shrugging. "Huh, I guess we did."

Lucas noticed the awkward pause and took it as his opportunity to join the conversation. "Do you guys remember playing Bear Creek? Every tournament they would brag about how good they were but they couldn't even shoot a damn free throw!"

"I know!" Nathan exclaimed. "Their defence was crap too, I don't know how they could have thought they could ever win."

The boys continued to rant as the girls rolled their eyes and started catching up on what they had done since they'd left high school. Before they knew it the food had arrived and everyone started to dig in.

"Mac and Cheese?" Nathan asked with an amused smile. "Really, Haley?"

"Hey!" Haley protested. "It's food of the God's!"

"Yeah, if the God's are five-year-olds!" Nathan countered.

Haley reached out to smack Nathan across the chest but he caught her arm. "Hey, I thought we had a conversation about hitting last week." Nathan teased. "This violence is going to have to stop. I like you way to much to send you away to an anger management facility but if it comes down to it you'll leave me no choice."

Everyone stopped eating as they turned to look over at Nathan. He looked around confused as to why everyone had stopped eating and suddenly realised what he had said. He looked over at Haley and found her staring at him wide-eyed. "As a friend." He quickly corrected himself, "I meant that I like you way too much as a friend to have to send you away." He then noticed that he was still holding on to her arm and swiftly dropped it before going back to eating his prime rib.

Haley turned back to her Mac and Cheese and tried not to show her disappointment. When Nathan had said that he liked her she had felt like her heart was going to leap right out of her chest but then when he had told her he had only meant it as a friend she couldn't help but feel disappointed. She knew she had no right to be that way, they were just friends, nothing more. After all he was _the_ Nathan Scott, most sought-after man in America, he could have any girl he wanted. She had seen the girls that fawned over him, the beautiful and the elite. There was no way he would ever want her, she knew that. She would just have to ignore her inexplicable attraction and hope it would go away.

~*23*~

The group had finished the rest of their dinner in relative silence, everyone lost in their own thoughts, and were now on their way to Haley's house. When they pulled up to the driveway Nathan was surprised to see that it was a quaint little house.

Haley noticed his surprise and decided to explain. "This was my parent's house, when I was eighteen they decided to fulfill their dream of travelling around in an RV and they put the house up for sale. When I found out it hadn't sold yet I decided to buy it back, it may not be big or fancy but it's home and I love it."

"I can see why." Nathan commented as he walked inside. He had grown up in big fancy houses all his life and although they were nice this was something different. It was warm and cozy and he could definitely see why Haley would want to live here.

"Thanks." Haley responded as she showed them to the living room. There was a TV at the front of the room with two couches against the walls at either side and a loveseat at the back of the room facing the television. Peyton and Jake headed towards the couch on the right and sat themselves down. Upon seeing this, Brooke quickly grabbed Lucas' hand and pulled him onto the other couch leaving Haley and Nathan with the loveseat at the back of the room.

Nathan looked nervously at the loveseat. He wasn't sure how he would cope sitting this close to Haley. Sure, he and Haley were friends, but he couldn't deny his feelings for her. He always wanted to be around her and when he wasn't he couldn't stop thinking about her. Just a simple touch from her could cause such a strong reaction from him. He'd never felt like this about a girl before. He felt like he would burst if he didn't tell her how he felt, but no matter what he knew he couldn't. No good could come of it. He knew nothing could ever happen between them. She was so beautiful and kind and intelligent. She was perfect in every way and he was definitely not. There was no way she would _ever_ go for a guy like him. He knew that. He would just have to suck it up and hope that his feelings would go away eventually.

Nathan was shaken from his thoughts as he felt Haley brush past him and walk into the room carrying popcorn and drinks for everyone. She handed them out before taking a seat on the loveseat. She looked up and noticed that Nathan was still standing in the doorway. "You coming?" she asked him.

Nathan looked over at the loveseat for a second before making his way over to sit beside her. The seat was quite small so as they sat their hands and legs were touching. Both could feel the electricity shooting through their bodies but neither turned to look at the other.

Brooke turned to look over at Nathan and Haley and had to stop herself from laughing aloud. Both were sitting ramrod straight and staring straight ahead. Neither moving.

"Which movie do you guys wanna watch?" she asked, trying to relieve some of the tension from the atmosphere.

"What about The Notebook?" Peyton suggested.

"Ooh that sounds perfect." Haley gushed.

"Hell no!" Nathan exclaimed.

"No way!" Lucas agreed.

"But Broody," Brooke whined before a mischevious smile spread across her face. She leaned over and whispered suggestively into his ear, "I'll make it worth your while."

"I'm in!" He announced enthusiastically.

"Whipped." Nathan muttered under his breath.

"If we have to suffer through The Notebook then we get to watch a movie of our choice after." Jake proposed.

Brooke seemed to ponder the idea for a moment before agreeing. "Deal. But we have to watch your movie first because I know the kind of movies you guys pick and there's no way I'm going to sleep with those images in my head."

"Deal." Jake agreed.

The guys then got up and discussed the movie they were to watch before they sat back down and Jake went to go put it in the DVD player.

"What movie did you guys pick?" Haley asked.

"You'll see…" Nathan said mischeviously.

Right at that moment The Grudge's face appeared on the television as blood splattered across the menu screen. Haley screamed out loud as she jumped into Nathan's lap holding on to him or dear life. _Yup_ Nathan thought to himself as he looked at the beautiful woman in his arms _The Grudge was definitly the right choice._

Haley spent the rest of the movie in Nathan's lap with her head buried in his neck as she clung to him. He had offered to turn the movie off for her if it was too scary but she had insisted she was fine saying she wouldn't ruin the fun for everyone else so Nathan spent the next hour and a half in pure heaven as he held Haley in his arms, stroking her hair and whispering comforting words in her ear.

When the movie finally ended Haley looked up at Nathan sheepishly as she slid off of his lap. As much as the movie had scared her, she had never felt safer than when she had been in Nathan's arms.

Both of them turned back to the television as the opening credits of The Notebook started to play. After being so close to Nathan throughout the last movie Haley was itching to touch him again. She clenched her hands together on her lap to stop herself from reaching out to him and focused as hard as she could on the television screen. Slowly she started to feel herself getting engrossed in the plot and within half and hour she was lost in the magic of The Notebook.

About halfway through the film Nathan felt Haley's small hand reach out and take his. He looked over at her to she her tearing up as her eyes remained fixated on the screen. She obviously hadn't realized that she had grabbed his hand but that didn't stop the familiar tingles from shooting up Nathan's arm. His hand felt like it was on fire. When Haley subconsciously started to rub her thumb along the back of his hand Nathan felt like he would explode. He fought to remain in control but knew he was fighting a loosing battle. As he looked over at Haley's face, so close to his own, he knew he needed to get out of there before he did something stupid. As much as it pained him to do so Nathan pulled his hand from Haley's before muttering an excuse about having to go home and running from the house.

Haley had been engrossed in the movie when she noticed the warmth leave her hand. She hadn't even realised that she had been holding Nathan's hand but now that it was gone she felt surprisingly empty. She must have grabbed his hand during the movie when she hadn't been paying attention. She had probably made him uncomfortable and scared him off. She couldn't afford to make things awkward between them, she would have to be more careful from now on.

Brooke smiled to herself as she watched Haley lost in her thoughts. She had secretly been sneaking glances at them all night to see what they would do. She had seen the way Nathan had smiled down at Haley as she had held on to him in terror during The Grudge and how tightly Haley's hands were clenched together as she snuck glances at Nathan at the beginning of The Notebook. She knew that no matter what those two said there was absolutely no way in hell those they were just friends.


	8. If Only

**Author's Note: Okay I'm so so sorry for making you guys wait so long for this update! I know I said I would update really soon and I absolutely LOVED the reviews. I finished the chapter and I was ready to update by Tuesday but first my computer lost the file and I had to retype it and then my servor was down so I couldn't post it...basically a string of unfortunate events. Because of my super-awesome reviews this chapter was supposed to be twice as long but I really didn't want you guys to have to wait that long so I'll post the second half as a new chapter once I manage to type it up. Again thanks for the awesome reviews and sorry for the wait!**

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"You should buy them in bulk, if you're going to hand apologies out that often." Lucas imitated in a high-pitched voice as he read off of the script in from of him.

"Lucas, you do realise your making fun of Haley right?" Nathan asked. "Besides you're supposed to be helping me practice my lines, not goofing off. We're filming the scene in fifteen minutes."

Lucas looked over at Nathan who was pacing back and forth across Haley's living room. The directors had seen her house and decided it would be perfect for Beth's house so now they were waiting for the crew to get everything ready.

"Nathan you seem oddly nervous…" Lucas commented, looking closer at Nathan. "From what I know of you, you never get nervous before filming." Although Lucas didn't know much about Nathan the two had gotten oddly close in the past two weeks since the movie night, you could almost say they were turning into brothers, and from what Lucas had seen, Nathan definitely didn't seem like the nervous type.

"What?! I'm not nervous." Nathan scoffed but continued pacing the room.

Lucas, wondering what could have gotten Nathan so worked up, started flipping through the script. "James cuts Beth off by leaning down and kissing her." He read aloud.

Nathan's eyes widened as he lunged for Lucas and grabbed the script out of his hands but he could tell from the smirk on Lucas' face that it was too late.

"So that's why you're nervous." Lucas stated smugly.

"Man, I told you, I am not nervous." Nathan stated agitatedly.

"Well you should be," Lucas goaded, "A lot is riding on this one kiss. Either you'll finally make it out of the friend zone or she'll realise she has no feelings for you and there'll be no hope of you ever being with her. Better hope you're a good kisser."

Lucas noticed Nathan's face blanch for a second before he seemed to regain his composure. "What are you talking about man, I'm a great kisser. Not that it matter's because Hales and I are just friends."

"Really?" Lucas asked with a smirk, "Because I heard that Trevor was going to ask her out sometime this week."

"What?!" Nathan boomed, "That son of a bitch! I can't believe him! Haley would never go for a tool like him, she wouldn't." Nathan tried to convince himself but the doubts were already being planted in his head. _Would she?_

"So you'll admit you like her?" Lucas asked.

Nathan was about to deny it but the look on Lucas' face told him it would do no good. He needed to tell someone anyways so it might as well be Lucas. "Okay, yes I like her, _a lot_. But we're just friends, and I know she doesn't think of me that way but it's so damn hard just being her friend. I don't know how much longer I can do this. I've never felt this way before Luke. I don't know what to do."

Lucas looked down to his brother's pleading face and wanted to help him. He knew that Haley liked Nathan back, it was practically stamped across her forehead, but as much as he wanted to tell Nathan and put his doubts at ease he knew he couldn't. It wasn't his place. Nathan and Haley were going to have to figure this one out on their own.

~*23*~

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Haley was having her hair and make-up done while Brooke and Peyton gushed about how beautiful she looked.

"Really, I don't need any of this," Haley complained, "I can just do my make-up myself, I don't need this much."

"Haley!" Brooke gasped, "How many times do I have to tell you, when you have someone who is _willing_ to do your hair and make-up, you let them."

Haley rolled her eyes. The two of them had this argument every time Haley had to have her hair and make-up done.

"Besides, you have to look extra hot for Hotshot." Brooke added with a suggestive smile.

"Brooke we're just friends!" Haley exclaimed.

"Really…" Brooke looked at Haley with a sly smile. "Is that why you tried out _five_ different types of lip-gloss this morning before you left the house."

"I was…just trying to look nice." Haley's cheeks flushed bright red as she tried to avoid Brooke's knowing smile.

"I saw you licking your lips Haley, you weren't just seeing how they looked, you were seeing how they _tasted_."

Haley knew there was no use trying to come up with excuses so she just continued to look around the kitchen. Brooke stayed quiet for a moment as she revelled in her victory before she suddenly starting jumping up and down.

"I know, I know! Tonight we are having a girl's night. We need to talk about this more anyways. We'll meet here at eight o'clock. P. Sawyer, you get music-"

"Brooke, I've told you a hundred times, my last name's Jagielski now!" Peyton exclaimed.

Brooke gave a little shrug before continuing. "I'll bring the beauty products, and Tutorgirl make sure you have movies and snacks. Ohhh this is gonna be so much fun."

Brooke rambled on about the girl's night until Trevor came to tell them that they had to start the scene. As they walked outside and towards the sidewalk she noticed that he had grabbed her hand and started rubbing his thumb against the back of her hand. "This scene is going to be amazing," he said to her, "you and Nathan have such great chemistry."

Trevor's words and actions just didn't add up, he had been acting like this a lot lately. One moment he would be flirting with her or touching her and the next he would be talking about her and Nathan's 'explosive chemistry'. It just didn't add up. Before Haley could dwell on her thoughts any more Trevor left to go talk with one of the crew members.

Haley looked up to see Nathan standing in front of her house with a handful of pebbles and she could feel her heart rate speed up. She walked over to her place on the sidewalk and tried her best to calm her nerves. She was never nervous before a scene but something about this one had her hands shaking uncontrollably.

"And…ACTION!" Trevor yelled.

Nathan started throwing the rocks up at Haley's house as Haley walked along the sidewalk behind him.

"Trying to wake up my parents? That's their room." She said as she continued to walk.

Nathan turned around and saw her for the first time that day. They had been so busy before that they hadn't had a chance to see each other. She looked gorgeous just like she always did. It was almost enough to make him forget his next line.

"Wait. Beth, look, I need to apologize, okay." Nathan finally managed as he chased after her.

"You should buy them in bulk if you're gonna hand apologies out that often." Haley retorted as she turned to face him.

"Will you just…I don't know how to do this, alright. I'm…I'm not like you." Nathan got out, looking flustered.

"What does that mean?" Haley asked. She had rehearsed her lines over and over but for some reason saying them now just felt so…different. She couldn't describe it, it felt almost real.

"Alright I screw up a lot. Alright…and…being around you, I just, I don't wanna be that guy anymore" Nathan responded and as he looked into her eyes he couldn't explain the emotions he was feeling, it was unlike anything he had ever experienced before.

"Well who do you wanna be James?" Haley asked as she looked up with a frustrated expression.

"I wanna be somebody who's good enough to be seen with you." Nathan said, and it was true. That was how he felt in real life, he wanted nothing more than to be good enough to be with her.

Haley paused to look up at Nathan in wonder, the way he had said that…it had sounded almost as if he had meant it. _Wow, he really is an amazing actor._ She thought to herself. _He's even fooling me._

She shook her head slightly to clear her thoughts before regaining her composure and saying her line. "Well you should of thought of that last night!" She pretended to look enraged, "You know, I keep- I keep putting myself out there and you keep blowing it and it's probably a good thing because at this point there's nothing that you could say or do that's gonna surprise me-"

Nathan had been waiting for this moment all day. The whole time Haley had been saying her line he had been using all of his self control not to bend down and kiss her, he knew he had to wait. But now that moment was finally here and as Nathan bent his head down he could hear the erratic pounding of his heart and wondered if she could here it too.

As his lips landed on hers he felt like his heart was about to burst out of his chest, and as his lips moved over hers he had to fight with everything in him not to deepen the kiss. He wanted to so bad, to hold her to him and ravage her mouth. She tasted better than he ever could have imagined. He felt like he was in heaven and he never wanted it to end. Unfortunately he knew it had to and he reluctantly pulled away as he searched her face to see if she had felt the same things he had.

Her face was filled with wonder and as much as he wanted to believe that it was because she felt the same way he knew it was only acting.

"Except that." Haley finished her line with the same look of wonderment. "You shouldn't have done that James."

"But I wanted to." Nathan responded with conviction. And he had. God, he had wanted to kiss her so bad. He couldn't believe he had waited that long. The only problem was that now he wanted to do it again…and again.

"Yeah." Haley responded as she jumped into his arms and captured his lips in a passionate kiss. She had always known it would feel amazing to kiss Nathan Scott but this was mind-blowing. As their lips moved against each others she had to stop herself from moaning aloud. Somewhere in the background Haley heard Trevor yell 'cut' but she was too caught up in this amazing moment to care, she knew that even if she wanted to she couldn't stop kissing Nathan.

Nathan traced his tongue along her bottom lip begging for entrance which she instantly granted him. As their tongues battled for dominance Nathan groaned into Haley's mouth. It felt so damn good to be kissing her again, he would probably never get a chance to do it again so he had to take advantage of it now.

The two continued to kiss passionately until Trevor walked up behind her and patted her on the shoulder.

"Haley, the scene's over. You don't have to kiss him anymore." He said.

Haley broke the kiss, embarrassed, and turned to look at Trevor. A small part of him looked almost smug, as if to say he had known about their chemistry all along, but a much bigger part of him look annoyed... almost jealous.

"Umm… thanks Trevor." Haley replied shyly as Trevor nodded curtly and walked away.

Haley turned back to look at Nathan and couldn't hide her embarrassment. She'd never meant to get caught up in the kiss. She realised he must have been so uncomfortable when she kept kissing him after the scene ended. The more she thought about it the more mortified she became. _I can't be here anymore._ She thought to herself.

"Umm…Nathan, I'm sorry. I have to go." Haley mumbled as she quickly made her way towards her car and drove off.

Nathan looked after her longingly, his eyes a deep shade of blue. His mind was still reeling from that kiss. He had managed to restrain himself the first time he had kissed her but the second time…he couldn't control himself. Holding her body in his arms as he kissed her gave him the most amazing feeeling in the world. He had known the scene was over but he hadn't been able to make himself pull away, more so, he hadn't wanted to. He knew he must have scared her away, she obviously hadn't felt the same way. She had bolted the first chance she got.

He sighed. _If only she felt the same way…_

* * *

**There it is...Naley's first kiss. Hope you enjoyed! Please review and tell me what you think!**


	9. Misconception

**Author's Note: Hey everyone. Good news, my kept blowing so I couldn't update before but I think I just fixed it YAY! Anyways this chapter has quite a lot going on and I really hope you enjoy it, I'm already working on the update don't worry!**

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Haley stood in front of her mirror as she ran her hand through her hair one more time. Brooke had decided that they should all go to Tric, the club Karen had opened recently. The only problem was that Nathan was going to be there. The truth was that her and Nathan hadn't seen each other since the kissing incident five days ago…not that she was counting or anything.

She glanced in the mirror once more. Her blond hair was straightened and her make-up was soft and natural. She was wearing a turquoise silk off-the-shoulder top with a denim mini skirt that Brooke had made her wear and a pair of turquoise pumps. She knew that normally she would have refused to go out wearing this, she wouldn't have given in so easily, but Brooke had kept talking about how stunned Nathan was going to be and even though Haley knew Nathan had no feelings for her she couldn't help herself from wanting him to be attracted to her. Even if only for a moment.

She knew it was futile and stupid but if she was going to have to face him again after completely embarrassing herself in front of him the least she could do was look good.

"Hot damn Tutorgirl! You are _smokin_'!" Brooke exclaimed from the doorway of Haley's room.

"Brooke!" Haley exclaimed. "You said you would stop coming into my room unannounced!"

"You're just upset because of that lip gloss thing," Brooke shrugged off with a wave of her hand. "I know you love my little surprise visits."

Haley was about to respond when Lucas called from downstairs.

"Brooke, Haley! Come on. We're going to be late!"

"For once it wasn't me who made us late." Brooke stated proudly as she made her way down the stairs. "I was ready when Lucas and I came over here an hour ago."

"Yeah but I'm pretty sure Lucas said you had to start getting ready at one o'clock this afternoon just to make it here at seven." Haley said with a smile.

"Lucas!" Brooke exclaimed angrily. "You promised you wouldn't tell!"

Lucas looked flustered for a moment before responding, "Don't worry, waiting those six hours was _definitely_ worth it." He managed to change the subject as he gauged her reaction to see if his compliment had gotten him out of the doghouse. When he saw a smile spread across her face he knew he had succeeded.

"You don't look to bad yourself." She responded flirtatiously. She was wearing a red halter mini dress with red high heels and he was wearing a black and white pin-striped dress shirt with jeans.

Haley looked between the two for a moment. _I know that look…_ she thought to herself. _Oh no! No way! Not in my house!_

"Okay you love-birds, let's get going!" Haley headed out the door, pulling the other two behind her before anything else could start. It was bad enough she was so nervous about seeing Nathan tonight, she didn't need to deal with Brooke and Lucas' hormones as well. _Tonight's going to be a long night _she thought to herself as they drove off towards the club.

~*23*~

Nathan, Peyton and Jake had just arrived at the club and the first thing Nathan did was look around for Haley. He didn't are if he looked desperate or if Peyton and Jake were smirking at him, he hadn't seen her in a week and it was killing him. He spotted her sitting with Lucas and Brooke in a booth at the back of the club and took a moment to look at her. She always looked gorgeous but tonight she looked so damn sexy he could barely contain himself.

He shook his head of his dirty thoughts and quickly made his way towards them. Just as he was about to reach Haley someone beat him to it.

"Would you like to dance?" The other guy asked holding out his arm. He was tall with broad shoulders. He had light brown hair and green eyes.

Haley pondered the question. Although this guy seemed nice, she really wasn't interested in him in that way. She was just about to kindly tell him no when she noticed Nathan out of the corner of her eye. She knew it was childish but a small part of her wanted to try and make him jealous. She peeked again and saw him eying the guy warily. She knew she shouldn't but she took the guy's hand and gave him a small flirty smile.

"I don't dance with guys unless I know their name." She said flirtatiously.

"Brad." The guy said as he obviously checked her out. "And yours?"

"Haley." She responded shooting him another smile.

Brad smiled back at her before he noticed Nathan who was making his way towards them with a determined on his face.

"Come on, let's go." Brad said as he quickly pulled her out onto the dance floor where Heartless by Kanye West was playing.

They started dancing to the song and although Brad never seemed to take his eyes off of her Haley found her gaze kept drifting towards Nathan who was standing by the bar watching them. He looked so angry that for a second Haley thought that maybe there was a chance he might feel the same way about her as she did him, maybe he really was as jealous as he looked. Then she noticed the three blonds make their way over to him and start flirting mercilessly with him. She noticed that he made no move to push them off and her hopes were dashed. Of course he didn't feel the same way, how could he possibly choose her when he was in a room full or bleach blonds who were throwing themselves at him?

"Hey," Brad asked as he looked down at her, "you okay?"

She looked up at him and managed a small smile. Of course she wasn't okay, the guy she hadn't been able to get out of her head for the past month was flirting with a bunch of girls a few feet away. She felt physically sick. Of course Brad didn't notice any of this as he went back to dancing. She tried to forget about Nathan and enjoy herself but after several minutes she felt Brad's hands slide down a little lower. She figured that his hand must have just slipped and let it go. A couple minutes later she felt them slide down to her thighs.

"Umm…Brad?" she asked him. This was making her really uncomfortable.

"Yeah babe." He responded as he started sliding his hands up her skirt.

Haley started to pull away when she felt his hands tighten their grip. She was about to scream out when all of a sudden his hands were off of her.

She turned around to see a seething Nathan standing behind her.

"What the hell man?" Brad asked from the floor as he clutched his jaw.

"Don't you _ever_ touch her again." Nathan gritted out as he leaned towards Brad menacingly.

"Whatever man, I was just looking for a good lay, I don't see what your problem is." Brad shrugged.

Nathan jaw clenched before he lunged forward. A second later he was on top of Brad ready to punch the living daylights out of him. Just as he went for the first punch he felt Haley's small hand on his arm.

"Nathan no! He's not worth it!" she screamed as her tiny frame tried to pull him away from Brad who was now looking quite petrified.

The feel of her small hands caused an instant calm to wash over him. He didn't know how a single touch could do so much but it shouldn't have surprised him. It was Haley after all, all of the effects she had on him were unnatural.

"Nathan?" Haley asked quietly when he still hadn't moved.

Nathan slowly got off of Brad who quickly scrambled away and turned to look at Haley.

"I'm sorry." He said, looking at her nervously. He knew she probably really liked that guy but from the moment Nathan had seen him ask her to dance he had felt the jealously pulsing through his veins. It didn't help that the guy had kept smirking at him as he danced with the most beautiful woman in the room. Then when those annoyng blondes had come up to him he had thought that maybe he could try and make Haley as jealous as he was feeling. Unfortunately it hadn't worked seeing as how she had kept dancing with Brad and hadn't seemed to notice him. Once he had realised this he had pushed the blondes away and gone back to watching Haley. That's when he had noticed how close they were. The whole time she had been dancing with Brad Nathan had managed to keep himself in check, as hard as it was, but the closer they got the more Nathan felt himself slipping. Then when Brad's hands had started to slide up Haley's skirt Nathan's anger and jealousy had taken over and he had just lost it.

"Why are you sorry?" Nathan heard Haley's soft voice break him out of his reverie.

"Look Haley," Nathan sighed, this was so hard for him to say. "I know you probably really liked that guy," just thinking about Haley liking another guy was painful, let alone saying it to her face, "and I understand that but he just went too far. I know right now you must be really angry an you have every right to be but the thing is-"

"Thank you." Haley cut him off as she went up to him and gave him a hug.

Nathan held her close as he breathed in her sweet scent. He wanted to stay like this forever.

After a couple of minutes Haley pulled away slightly and looked into his eyes. "Nathan I'm not mad, not even a little. Brad went _way_ too far and I'm just glad you were there in time to rescue me." She looked up at him and gave him a small smile. "Nathan?"

"Yeah," He asked, a little dazed.

"How did you know? How did you know what he was doing?"

"I was looking out for you," Nathan answer snapping out of his daze. "That's what friends do." As much as he hated to say it he knew that's what they were…_friends_.

Haley looked up into Nathan's eyes and couldn't help herself. She knew that Nathan didn't feel the same way and that she was only setting herself up for heartache but she figured that maybe if she heard it, it would make it easier for her to let go of her feelings.

"Hey Nathan?" she looked deep into his eyes. "Standing here, like this, with me. How does it make you feel?"

_Like I'm in heaven_. "Uh…" Nathan wasn't sure how she wanted him to answer. He wasn't even sure why she was asking him this. "Happy?" He guessed.

Haley searched his face for a moment. "Okay, here it is, I'm just gonna say it. What I meant was, how do you feel about me?"

Nathan looked at her curiously for a moment. Why was she asking him this? He looked down at her and noticed how uncomfortable she looked and it dawned on him. He was being so obvious about his feelings for her that she must have begun to notice, and now she was confronting him about it. As much as he wanted to tell her the truth and put his feelings out there in the open he knew he couldn't. She was obviously quite uncomfortable with the prospect of him having feelings for her and as much as he liked her, he couldn't bear the thought of losing her. As hard as it was being just her friend, it would be a million times harder not to have her in his life at all and he knew that if he told her the truth than that was exactly what would happen. He would lose her, and he couldn't have that, so he lied.

"I feel like you're my friend." He said, hoping she couldn't see through his lie and could be happy he had said what she obviously wanted to hear.

"Oh, okay." Haley forced out a smile. She had known this was coming, she had known from the moment she asked, but it still hurt to hear it coming from him. "Well, I guess I'll see you around." She said with a small smile as she turned and walked away.

Nathan looked after her confused. He had said everything she had wanted to hear, so why had she left. Maybe she still didn't believe him and still thought he had feelings for her, it was probably weird for her. He would just have to be more careful around her from now on and try not to let his feelings show.

~*23*~

It had now been two days since they had gone to club and Haley had to admit that she was sulking. She had been lying on the couch in her pyjamas watching re-runs of Gossip Girl for the past two days. She turned to look at the clock and realised that it was almost noon. She really needed to get outside, she knew this couldn't be good for her.

She quickly got ready and headed out the door. She was going to go over to Karen's Café for a nice lunch. She walked for a couple of minutes before she thought she heard something behind her, she shrugged it off and kept walking. A couple minutes later she heard a male voice. "Haley!" he called.

Haley turned around to see Trevor making his way towards her. "Hey Trevor." She said half-heartedly. "What's up?"

"Well…" Trevor looked at her nervously, "I was kind of wondering if you wanted to go out Friday night, you know, on a date."

Haley looked up at him for a moment. The truth was, she didn't want to go on a date with anyone other than Nathan. Just as she was about to tell him that Nathan's voice ran through her head '_I feel like you're my friend'_. Nathan didn't think of her like that and probably never would. What was the point in waiting around for a guy who didn't feel the same way? Maybe her going out with Trevor would be her first step to getting over Nathan.

"Okay Trevor. Yes I'll go on a date with you."

A smile lit up Trevor's face but for some reason it didn't make Haley feel anything, not like when Nathan's face lit up. Maybe it would just take some time for her to grow feelings towards Trevor.

"Really? Awesome. I'll pick you up around eight okay?"

"Great." Haley forced a smile, Trevor didn't seem to notice.

"Okay, well I have to go, but I'll see you later okay?"

"Of course." Haley said as she turned to walk away.

She was making the right choice, she knew she was. She had to be, this was the only way she could think of to get over her feelings for Nathan. It had to be the right choice. But she couldn't ignore the little voice at the back of her head that said. _Then why does it feel so wrong?_

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**I know a lot of you probably hate me right now and I hated writing some of these parts but it really is necessary for the plot. Please leave a review, good or bad, and tell me what you thought!**


	10. Out In The Open

**Auhor's Note: Thank you so much for the review. I loved reading each and every one of them. I was debating between making this one long chapter or putting it into two but I figured that you guys shouldn't have to wait that long so here it is. **

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"So…" Nathan and Lucas were at the Rivercourt. It was now Wednesday and Nathan hadn't been able to talk to Haley since the club last Friday. It was becoming a routine, her avoiding him, him chasing after her. He had tried calling her house and stopping by but she never answered. He didn't know what he had done wrong but he was determined to make it up to her. He needed her in his life.

"So…" Lucas responded.

Ever since Sunday Lucas had been acting weird. He had been nervous and edgy whenever Nathan was around. Something was definitely up. "Okay, so Nathan, there's something I have to tell you." Lucas said nervously.

_Here it comes..._Nathan thought to himself.

"Since you and Haley have to do a scene together tomorrow I guess it's better you find out now than finding out on the set because knowing you you would probably-"

"Lucas," Nathan cut him off. "Whatever it is, it can't be that bad, just tell me."

Lucas looked down nervously before looked up at Nathan. "Haley and Trevor kind of have a date tonight."

"THEY WHAT?!" Nathan exclaimed enraged as he slammed the ball down on the pavement. "How could she see something in that jackass! This is bullshit!"

"Don't kill the messenger!" Lucas exclaimed with his hands up in the air. When he saw Nathan's face his expression softened. When Lucas had first heard that Haley had a date with Trevor he had been so surprised, he knew that she liked Nathan, it just didn't make any sense. "Look Nate," Lucas said softly "I know this sucks, even I don't think she should be with him, but she is and there's nothing we can do about it. She seems to see something in the guy and we just have to respect that."

"Whatever." Nathan said irritably. "I just- I just wish-"

"You just wish it was you." Lucas finished for him.

"Yeah." Nathan sighed. "I do."

~*23*~

Haley was sitting on her couch reading a book when she heard a knock at the door. She put her book down on the coffee table before making her way towards the door. She looked out through the peep hole to see Brooke and Peyton standing there with loads and loads of bags.

"Whoa! What's going on you guys!" Haley said as she opened the door.

"We're having another girls night!" Brooke announced.

"Yeah," Peyton added. "We couldn't get anything out of you last time so we decided we'd have to try again."

Haley groaned inwardly. This was the last thing she wanted. Peyton and Brooke coming over here to talk about her and Nathan.

"Come on Tutorgirl!" Brooke exclaimed loudly, snapping Haley back to reality. "Let's get these movies into the DVD player!"

The three girls spent the next five hours watching movies, eating junk food and joking around. When the last movie had finally finished Haley quickly went to retrieve it and put it back in it's case before heading for her sleeping bag in the middle of the living room.

"Alright guys, well I'm wiped, time for bed, see you tomorrow." Haley rushed out as she hurried to climb into her sleeping back.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on missy! Not so fast!" Peyton exclaimed. "It's only eight o'clock and you are_ not_ getting away from us that easy!"

"I have no clue what you're talking about." Haley said feigning innocence.

"Come on, Tutorgirl, spill!" Brooke whined. "I've been waiting too long, what is going on with you and Hotshot!"

"Nothing." Haley said sullenly, and unfortunately it was true. Sure, she always knew nothing was ever going to happen between her and Nathan because he didn't have feelings for her, but at least before she could hope. Now she didn't even have that.

"That's bullshit!" Brooke protested. "Come on Haley! Both me and Peyton-"

"Peyton and I" Haley corrected.

"Whatever." Brooke brushed off. "The point is, we both know you have feelings for Nathan so just stop denying it and tell us. Trust me you'll feel so much better after you do."

"There really is nothing going on between us Brooke," Haley started. Brooke looked like she was about to protest but Haley quickly put her hand up to stop her. "The truth is, yes I do like Nathan-"

"Yes! I knew it! I knew it!" Brooke jumped up and started doing a little happy dance.

"Great!" Peyton said, sounding quite enthused as well, "now all you have to do is tell him."

"Yeah about that…" Hale started. Brooke stopped her little dance and looked down at Haley curiously before sitting back down and leaning in so she could hear the rest of the story. "I kind of already told him." Haley said as she bit her lip and fiddled with her pinky ring nervously while she waited for her friend's reactions. Both of them went wide-eyed and completely silent for a moment before yelling out simultaneously.

"YOU WHAT?!"

Haley cringed before she started to explain. "Well, I didn't exactly tell him, but I asked him how he felt about me at the club on Friday so I guess it's kind of the same thing if you think abo-"

"Really you asked him that?" One of them interrupted her ramble.

"What did he say?"

"Did you guys kiss?"

"Are you like dating now?"

"Oh my gosh you totally kissed didn't you?"

"I bet it was awesome."

Both of them fired question after question before asking in unison. "How come you didn't tell us!"

It was then that they noticed the sullen expression upon their friend's face.

"What's wrong Haley?" Brooke asked.

"He- he said that he just thought of me as a friend." Haley replied as she looked down, her eyes watering slightly.

"But- that doesn't make any sense." Peyton mumbled to herself. She knew that Nathan had feelings for Haley. She had never seen someone so infatuated in her life. It was the most obvious thing in the world. But why on earth would Nathan lie about his feelings for Haley? It just didn't add up. She was about to ponder the subject further when the sound of Brooke's infuriated voice brought her back to reality.

"He did what?!" Brooke exclaimed. "That's it I'm gonna go over to his house and kick his ass so hard-"

"Brooke." Haley interrupted calmly. "It's not his fault he doesn't think of me that way. It's just the way he feels, just like I can't help the way I feel. He didn't do anything wrong. He was just being honest with me."

_Honest my ass!_ Peyton thought to herself.

"Besides," Haley continued. "I have a date on Friday."

"Wait, back up a minute here." Brooke said before pausing to look at Haley. "What?"

"Well two days after umm…everything with Nathan, I was walking up to Karen's Café when Trevor asked me out. At first I was going to say no but, I mean, Nathan doesn't like me so I figured I may as well try and move on, you know?" Haley explained.

"Yeah, I know what you mean Tutorgirl." Brooke said softly as she gave Haley a sympathetic smile and leaned in to give her a hug. As she was hugging Haley she gave Peyton a look which Peyton returned with a nod of her head.

They were going to get to the bottom of this.

~*23*~

Nathan walked into his house and headed for the shower. After playing basket-ball the day before he had spent the night at Lucas'. He was pretty sure Lucas had made him stay just so that he didn't go and kick Trevor's ass, which was a pretty tempting idea.

He stripped off his clothes and climbed into the shower letting the hot water wash over him. The whole time he was in the shower he imagined what it would be like if he were the one going on the date with Haley. He let himself get lost in an alternate universe where Haley actually had feelings for him, the more he thought about it, the more he didn't want to step out of the shower and come back to reality. He wanted to stay in his own personal heaven forever. Unfortunately just as the hot water was starting to go cold he heard banging at his front door.

He quickly climbed out of the shower and threw on a pair of boxers and basketball shorts before going to answer the door.

"Peyton? Brooke?" He asked when he saw them on the other side. "What are you guys doing here?"

Without answering his question Brooke stepped forward and slapped him across the face. "You ass!"

"What?" Nathan asked, slightly stunned from the slap. "Look I'm sorry I couldn't get to the door in time but I was in the shower and-"

"Not that you idiot!" Brooke exclaimed.

"Then what?" Nathan asked confused. None of this made any sense, he couldn't think of anything he had done that could've earned him a slap in the face.

"Nathan did you tell Haley you thought of her as a friend?" Peyton asked as she stood before him with her arms crossed.

"Ummm…yeah." Nathan responded hesitantly.

"Why?" Peyton's voice seemed to soften as she noticed his confusion.

"Why what?" Nathan asked.

"Don't play innocent with me." Brooke snarled. "We all know you have feelings for Haley. Why the hell did you lie about them?!"

Nathan looked between the two girls before shaking his head and covering his face with his hands. "You all know? I knew I was being too obvious!" He berated himself as he headed headed towards the living room, the girls following closely behind. "I knew she suspected something!" He then turned and faced the two girls. "Look I'm really sorry but I can't help that I feel this way. I knew she suspected something and I knew that if I told her the truth I would lose her. I know it's wrong but I had to lie, I need her in my life."

He turned to look at Brooke and Peyton and noticed that they were both standing completely still, looking shocked. Then, all of a sudden, both of them started laughing hysterically.

"Guys, I really don't see what's so funny." Nathan commented irritably.

"What's so funny is that-" Brooke started before Peyton swiftly cut her off.

"What's so funny is that umm…" Peyton paused to think of something. "Is that although Haley had had her doubts on whether or not you had feelings for her, she is now absolutely sure that you don't. Don't worry, your lie worked." Technically Peyton was telling the truth, but this way she wasn't betraying Haley's confidence either. She knew the last statement wasn't necessary but she found herself a little angry with Nathan and could help the spiteful tone that she had used as she said it. She knew it wasn't his fault that he was so clueless but it still infuriated her that two people who were so obviously attracted to each other were so oblivious.

"Yeah," Brooke added, catching on quickly. "In fact, Haley has a date on Friday." She boasted.

Peyton turned to glare at Brooke. Yeah she was angry with him, but there was no need to torture the guy.

"I know." Nathan groaned as he plopped down on the couch, his head in his hands. "What am I gonna do?" He muttered to himself.

"What do you mean?" Peyton asked as she went over to him, starting to feel her anger dissipate as she saw how broken up Nathan was.

"I don't think I can do this much anymore." Nathan muttered, still talking to himself. He then turned to Peyton. "How am I supposed to watch them together? Just knowing she's with someone else is hard enough, but now I'm going to have to watch it. I just don't know if I can do it Peyton."

"Nate, maybe you should tell her how you feel." Brooke said as she went to sit on the other side of him. He sounded so desperate as he talked about Haley, and although she was one of Haley's best friends, she couldn't help but feel for Nathan as well.

"I can't Brooke." Nathan said dejectedly. "I know she doesn't feel the same way, the only thing I can do is be her friend."

"But Nate," Peyton said, rubbing his shoulder. "How long can you do that for? Just be her friend. You can't hide your feelings forever. If you feel this strongly for her after just a month how are you going to continue like this for the rest of your life?"

"I don't know, but I know I'm going to try as long as I can." Nathan said determinedly. "I have to, it's all I can do. If the only way I can have her is as a friend then I'll take it. It's all I've got."

Brooke and Peyton looked at each other for a moment. Contemplating whether or not to try and convince him to tell Haley about his feelings. Peyton looked at Nathan one more time and was tempted to tell him what she knew, Nathan was one of her best friends and she hated to see him hurting like this, but she knew she had to let him figure it out on his own, it was the only way.

Peyton stood and started to make her way to the door. "Sorry we bothered you Nathan, but I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow. Call if you need anything."

"Yeah Nate," Brooke added she followed Peyton to the door.

"Thanks guys," Nathan managed a small smile. "I'll see you around." He said as they walked out the door.

"So, how long do you think he'll last?" Brooke asked once they were outside.

"Not long." Peyton responded. "I've never seen Nathan so hung up in my life, he's never even showed he cared about a girl before. Whatever he feels for Haley must be pretty deep for him to be this broken up."

"I just hope he tells her soon." Brooke frowned. "This is hurting them both."

"Yeah I hope so too." Peyton sighed.

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**Well, now both of their feelings have been confirmed and are out in the open...well somewhat. Reviews are greatly apprieciated!**

**Next Chapter:**

**How will Nathan cope having to see Haley and Trevor together?**


	11. Jealousy

**Author's Note: Hey everyone. Thanks so much for the reivews, I absolutely loved reading each and every one of them. Things have been a bit busy with exams but soon they'll be over and it'll be summer! **

**I know the season finale was a while ago but I just wanted to say that I loved it. I know a lot of people didn't like it but I was so sure that Peyton was going to die and I was so glad she didn't. Even more than that I was so excited that Nathan made it into the NBA, I had been waiting so long for that. I have to say that, although I love this show and always will, I think that it wasn't as good as it was during the first three seasons, the chemistry between Nathan and Haley was so explosive during the first three seasons and after that I felt like it was dying off. I'm not sure if it was the writers and the way they wrote the scenes of whether it was something with James and Bethany, like they got into a relationship and then the on-screen chemistry started to die or something. I love Jamie but I also kind of feel like bringing him into the show changed Nathan and Haley as a couple, before they were such a passionate couple but now they are much more family oriented and it seems like there is hardly any passion between the two. But you know, that's just my opinion, maybe their still the same couple and I just see it differently in the later seasons. Either way I love the show and can't wait until the seventh season, especially considering this means more on-screen time for Naley.**

**Sorry for the super long rant but before I shut up let me just say that I loved writing this chapter, mainly because I love jealous Nathan and I think that it was really fun to write. I hope that it turned out okay and that you guys enjoy it!**

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Brooke and Peyton had left over an hour ago but Nathan still hadn't moved from his spot on the couch. He knew he should start getting ready for his next scene in half an hour but every time he started to move from the couch he thought about Haley and Trevor and how going to this scene would mean having to see them together. He started to consider calling in sick when his cell phone started ringing. He reached forward and grabbed it from the table before checking the caller ID.

"Hey Luke."

"Hey, where are you?" Lucas' agitated voice rang through the phone. "The scene starts in twenty minutes, you're supposed to be here by now."

"Umm…I dunno man. I'm not feeling so great." Nathan fake coughed for good measure.

"That's bullshit and we both know it!" Lucas exclaimed "This has something to do with Haley and Trevor doesn't it?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Whatever man. You're going to have to see them together at some point so you may as well just get it over with. Be here in five minutes, everyone's waiting."

Nathan was about to protest when he heard the dial tone. He sighed as he snapped his phone shut and headed off to get ready. _This was going to be a long day._

~*23*~

"I just talked to Nathan and he's on his way." Lucas said as he entered the classroom where Haley and Trevor were sitting comfortably on the desks.

"Finally!" Trevor exclaimed exasperated. "Not even two months into filming and he's already pulling bullshit."

Haley looked over at Trevor slightly annoyed. She didn't like the way he was talking about Nathan. "Something must have come up, that's why he's running late."

Trevor looked over at her incredulously. "You're defending him?"

Haley sighed. "All I'm saying is that Nathan's taken this movie pretty seriously so far and something must have come up for him to be late."

"Yeah," Lucas stepped in. "Nathan wasn't feeling well but he decided to come anyways." He shot a glare over at Trevor. "He must be pretty committed in order to come in even when he's sick."

Trevor just looked at the ground. "Whatever." He muttered under his breath. "I still don't buy it."

Lucas looked like he was about to comment but Trevor quickly changed the subject.

"So Haley, are you excited for our date on Friday?" Trevor said as he turned to her with a grin.

Haley mustered a smile. "Just thrilled."

Trevor didn't notice Haley lack of enthusiasm. Lucas did.

"I've been wanting to ask you out for a really long time." Trevor continued.

"That's just great." Haley said with just a hint of annoyance in her voice.

Lucas looked between the two of them suspiciously. It was obvious that Haley didn't have feelings for Trevor and Lucas was more than certain that she did for his brother. All he wanted to know was why she was going out with Trevor if she felt this way.

"I just wanted to make sure that you didn't have feelings for anyone else before I made my move." Trevor slid across the desk so that his side was pressed against Haley's.

Haley was saved from having to respond as Nathan burst into the room.

"Sorry I'm late, I know I was supposed to be here a while ago but…" Nathan trailed off as he looked at Haley and Trevor who were sitting extremely close, his eyes narrowed. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Well actually…" Trevor started.

"Nope." Haley cut him off. "Nothing at all." Haley took this opportunity to get up off the desk and away from Trevor as she made her way to stand in front of Nathan. "Are you feeling better?"

"Huh?" Nathan asked confused.

"Well, Lucas said you weren't feeling well." Haley looked up at him curiously.

"Uhh...well yeah, of course. It was just a headache." Nathan said, shooting Lucas a grateful glance for covering for him.

"You can't be sure. It could be something more. Maybe we should do a scene without kissing today, we wouldn't want Nathan to get Haley sick." Trevor challenged as he stared at Nathan.

"I said I'm fine." Nathan said through gritted teeth as he gave Trevor a hard glare.

"Okay then, let's get started!" Lucas said as he clapped his hands, trying to ease the tension in the room.

"Good idea." Haley stated as she looked between Nathan and Trevor nervously. "Nathan do know your lines or do you want some time to go over them?"

"I know them." Nathan said as he turned away from Trevor.

"We're ready to go!" Trevor called as he walked out of the room like nothing had happened.

Nathan and Haley got into their places behind the corner of one of the corridors as they waited for the scene to start.

"And action!" They heard Trevor yell.

Haley walked out from behind the corner first and made her way down the corridor. Nathan waited a few seconds before he followed.

"Beth." He said as he caught up to her and pulled her into a nearby classroom.

He bent his head down and captured her lips with his. He tried to make the kiss as good as possible, hoping that maybe this would make her realise that she should be with him and not Trevor. He kissed her softly and sweetly and before he knew it he was totally lost in the kiss, just like the last time he couldn't get himself to stop kissing her. He probably would have kissed her forever if Haley hadn't pulled away.

"We can't do this here, right now." She giggled.

Nathan was still slightly dazed from the kiss and couldn't seem to remember his next line. He racked his brain for a few seconds before it finally came to him.

"We just did." He replied with a slight chuckle.

Haley put her hands over her mouth as she giggled a little more.

"Alright, I'll kiss you later." Nathan smirked at her as he left the classroom.

"And...cut!" Trevor yelled as he made his way towards them. "Nathan that kiss was way too long and what was with the pause before your next line? You said you knew the script!"

"I must've just blanked." Nathan muttered, there was no way he was going to admit the real reason why he hadn't been able to remember his line.

"We aren't paying you for nothing you know. You need to do your job. That's two mistakes in a single scene! You need to get your act together."

"Trevor." Haley said as she put her hand on his arm. "There was barely a pause, no one will even notice. And as for the kiss, that was my fault, I was supposed to pull away. Don't blame it on him."

"Haley you don't need to defend him." Trevor said as he looked down at her.

Haley turned away from him to look at Nathan but Nathan's eyes were staring at her hand, she looked down and realised that it was resting on Trevor's arm. Trevor seemed to follow her line of vision and she noticed that he was smiling to himself. Upon noticing this Haley quickly removed her hand. She had only meant it as a friendly gesture to calm him down but he seemed to think otherwise.

Nathan then watched as Trevor reached out and grabbed Haley's hand. He could feel his blood boiling as he clenched his jaw. When Trevor intertwined their fingers and smiled down at her Nathan felt like he was about to explode with anger.

"So, Haley." Nathan said in an attempt to calm himself down. "Anything new with you?" He knew it was the stupidest question but he just needed a distration so that he didn't beat Trevor to a pulp.

Trevor smirked. "You mean other than our date tomorrow?"

Nathan wanted to punch Trevor in the face right at that moment. "I was talking to Haley." He gritted out.

"Tell him Haley." Trevor said as he looked down at Haley.

"Umm…yeah." Haley said nervously. "We do have a date tomorrow."

Nathan felt himself wince as she said it. As if it wasn't bad enough they had a date at all, now he had to hear her tell him herself, he had to stand there and act like nothing was wrong as she told him that she was going out with another guy. He knew it would come eventually, she was beautiful and she was bound to start dating someone, but now that it was actually happening he didn't know how he had ever thought he could handle this.

"That's cool." Nathan managed to get out.

"Yeah, it's going to be perfect." Trevor said as he placed a kiss on her forehead.

Nathan knew he had to get out of there. The pain was becoming unbearable, nothing could have prepared him for this kind of pain. He had never wanted to be with someone before and now that he had finally found someone who he wanted to be with, she had no feelings for him. If that wasn't hard enough he actually had to watch her with another guy. He couldn't believe that she saw something in Trevor. What if her and Trevor fell in love? What if they were already in love? That meant that the whole time her and Nathan had been getting to know each other, the whole time that he had been falling for her, she had been falling for Trevor. Nathan felt like he was going to be sick. He couldn't bear the thought that she had feelings for another man. He knew that he could never have feelings for another woman.

"I have to go." Nathan blurted out before rushing out the door.

"What was that about?" Trevor asked.

"I don't know." Haley said softly to herself. For some reason she couldn't quell the guilt she felt bubbling up inside of her. She was going on a date with Trevor even though she still had feelings for Nathan. She wasn't being fair to Trevor by leading him on but some part of her hoped that somehow this would force her to move forward. However, the weirdest part was that she almost felt like she was cheating on Nathan. It didn't make any sense because Nathan had no feelings for her. It wasn't fair, here she was, struggling to let go of her ever growing feelings and he got to keep on living his life completely oblivious to what he was doing to her.

"Look Haley," Trevor said as he looked down at her, "I have to go but I'll see you on Friday for our date okay?"

"Umm…sure." Haley answered absentmindedly. When she noticed Trevor was out of the room she breathed a sigh of relief. Although Trevor was a really nice guy and she was sure he would make a great friend, she couldn't help but feel uncomfortable around him. The way he would always bring up their date and touch her all the time it felt weird and…wrong. She had been so uncomfortable earlier when he held her hand and kissed her head, however she felt bad to pull away, she had agreed to try and move on and that included trying her best in this new relationship. Unfortunately she had no romamtic feelings for Trevor, as much as she wanted to she couldn't being herself to think of him as more than a friend. _Maybe things only feel this way because it was so soon in the relationship_, she thought to herself, _maybe after a couple dates things will start to feel normal and this will all get a lot less awkward. My feelings for Nathan will just disappear and I'll develop feelings for Trevor over time_**. **She kept telling herself this over and over, hoping that if she repeated it enough it would come true.

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**So I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know a lot of you are impatient for Haley and Nathan to get together and I fully understand that. I have found in the fic's I have read that the best ones are usually the ones that take time to develope tension between the characters so when they finally get together it's so much better. I also find that the characters and the reader's appreciate the relationship much more because of the wait. Sorry for the wait but I think it will make it so much better when everything falls into place. **

**Anyways, please tell me what you thought about the story, whatever it is you thought I'd be glad to hear it. **


	12. Drive Away

**Author's Note : Hey guys, I loved my reviews so much that I just _had_ to update. I'm a little sceptical about this chapter because I don't know if I exagerated things an blew them out of proportion but I guess I'll just see what you guys think. Anyways I really hope you enjoy this chapter.**

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Haley was standing in front of her mirror as she smoothed out her dress. She was wearing a light blue silk dress with thin straps. The dress was tighter around the chest but flowed down at the waist and reached just above her knee. However as she looked in the mirror she frowned, the truth was she didn't really feel like going out, well out with Trevor anyways, but she knew she had to. She had already agreed to the date and now she needed to follow through, it was the right thing to do.

With that thought Haley focused all her energy on imagining having a perfect date with Trevor, but somehow her image of Trevor got more and more distorted until she couldn't make it out at all. She squinted her eyes slightly, confused, as she tried to bring him back into focus. Bit by bit the image started to come back into focus but it looked slightly different. For one the hair was darker and it was taller. It was more muscular and much more handsome. Haley's eyes lit up. It was Nathan. The second Haley realised this a smile spread across her face, and even though she knew she shouldn't she started picturing her perfect date with Nathan instead. He would pick her up at her house before they would go out for dinner where they would joke around as they talked about their lives and told funny stories, then maybe they would go see a movie where he would hold her hand before he would take her home and kiss her goodnight. She imagined the kiss, if it was anything like the ones on set then it would be amazing. The way his lips would move over hers…She could feel her cheeks flushing as she thought about it.

Somewhere in the background she heard the doorbell ring and she made her way down the stairs still lost in her thoughts about Nathan. She reached the door and swiftly pulled it open with a smile on her face.

"Hi Na- Trevor?" She asked slightly confused as she shook her head.

"Um…yeah." Trevor responded looking slightly uncomfortable. "I thought we had agreed on eight but if you want I can come back later or something."

"Oh no of course not. I'm sorry, I must have just spaced for a minute." Haley said as she plastered a fake smile on her face. "Let's go."

Trevor and Haley made their way to the car and Trevor made his way over to the drivers side as Haley opened her door and got inside.

"By the way Trevor, where are we going?" Haley asked as she looked over at Trevor.

"It's a surprise." Trevor smiled mischievously before he started the car and they drove off.

~*23*~

Nathan paced around his living room for the hundredth time._ Haley's on her date right now. I wonder what their doing? What if she's having a good time? What I they kiss? What if they've already kissed?_

All these thoughts were running through Nathan's head. He shook his head as he tried to chase them out but just like all the other times they came back full force. He just couldn't seem to get this date off his mind. There was no way that he could spend the rest of his weekend like this, wondering about Haley and her date. With that thought Nathan strode quickly towards his front door and grabbed his coat of the coat hook before rushing out of his house. He quickly made his way to his car and hopped inside before rushing over to Haley's house full speed.

The whole drive there horrible thoughts plagued his mind, thoughts about Haley and Trevor and all the things that could come of this date. The one woman he wanted to be with and she was about to end up with another man. Suddenly Nathan realised that this was it, he couldn't hold off any longer. He needed to tell her how he felt. He couldn't cope with watching her with another man, he needed her to be with him and him alone. As he thought about it he could feel the fear of rejection pooling in the pit of his stomach but he pushed it aside. That didn't matter, nothing mattered but getting Haley to be his. Even if she didn't feel anything for him he just needed her to know where he stood so at least he had a chance.

As he turned the corner he noticed Haley's house come into view and quickly looked around for any sign of Haley, he saw none. He parked his car down the street and headed up towards her house, almost running. He made it up her driveway and to her door before ringing the door bell. No answer. He waited a few minutes before knocking on the door impatiently. He waited for a minute but still no one came to answer the door.

Nathan sighed as he looked down at his watch: 9:00. It had been an hour since Haley had left for her date. One long hour that she had been spending with Trevor. _Who knows what could've happened in an hour?_ He thought to himself.

Nathan shook his head to clear himself of those thoughts. _It's only an hour. That's perfectly normal. Almost all dates last longer than an hour. It's probably just a normal date and nothing will happen._ _Nothing will happen. _Nathan repeated the same thing over and over to himself. It was the only thing keeping him sane.

~*23*~

"I've worked with Owen Wilson, Chace Crawford, Blake Lively, Selena Gomez and a bunch of other people. When you first meet a star there's that whole 'wow factor' but then after a while it just fades away and you realise that they are just regular people." Trevor finished what seemed to be his life story as Haley nodded her head.

"I know what you mean." She said with her fake smile still plastered on her face, it seemed to be a permanent feature when she was around him.

"What about you Haley?" Trevor asked.

"Well, I'm from Tree Hill." She started. "My best friends are Lucas Scott and Brooke Davis, but you probably already know that. I went to Tree Hill High-"

"I can imagine you going to Tree Hill High." Trevor interrupted. "You were definitely one of the popular girls weren't you. One of the girls all the guys sought after." Trevor smiled as he seemed to picture it in his head.

"Actually I was a tutor." Haley said with a soft smile.

"Really?" Trevor frowned. "I would have thought that a rock star like you would have definitely been popular."

"Most people think so but I was actually quite happy with my high school experience. I had the best best friend, I remember we would hang out on the roof of his mom's café and have water balloon fights and sometimes he would fill some with milk…" she giggled as she recalled the memory.

"Really?" Trevor asked, the frown still on his face. "You're telling me that if you could go back and do it all over again you still wouldn't choose to be popular?"

"No, I wouldn't change a thing." Haley said as she thought back on her childhood. "I loved everything about it. I especially loved being a tutor. You know that feeling when you teach someone something and you just see that light go off and you know that they got it. Most of the kids I tutored didn't know they had it in them but when they realised they did, it was just amazing to see the smiles that lit up their faces and to know that I helped do that. That I was able to help them succeed and help them find something in themselves that I saw in them all along. They were all such bright kids, they just needed a little push in the right direction." Haley smiled her first genuine smile that night as she thought back on her teens years.

"_That_ was the highlight of your high school experience?" Trevor asked incredulously.

"Well…yeah." Haley said, a little offended.

"Okay." Trevor responded with his eyebrows raised. He looked like he wanted to add more but instead changed the topic.

"So I heard you have an album coming out soon."

"Yeah." Haley responded a little distractedly. This was not what she wanted to talk about on a date but it seemed like every time she started to talk about something that was actually important to her, Trevor seemed disinterested.

Trevor continued to talk about their careers as Haley looked down at her plate. She moved the steak around her plate a little with her fork warily before picking up her knife and cutting a piece off. She put it in her mouth and chewed as she looked back up at Trevor and nodded at the appropriate times. Trevor had taken her to this really fancy restaurant and although she did appreciate the grand gesture, she didn't need all this to impress her. However she hadn't told Trevor that. She had smiled and thanked him. Once they had been seated the waiters had come with the menus. She had automatically looked for the pastas to see if they had any Mac n' Cheese but she hadn't even gotten past 'alfredo' when Trevor had said that they would both be having the steak. She remembered how she had looked up at him surprised. He had merely smiled at her and said 'I know how much girls love it when I order for them.'

"Haley? Haley!" Haley then saw Trevor's hand waving back and forth in front of her face. "Are you okay? You seem a little out of it."

"Yeah, I'm fine." Haley said as convincingly as possible. "I'm just a little tired that's all."

"Oh." Trevor said. "Well I was planning to go see a movie but if you want I could drop you home instead."

"No, no. It's fine." Haley gave Trevor a tight smile. "A movie sounds great."

"Perfect." Trevor said with a smile. "The movie starts at eleven thirty but since it's only ten thirty I was thinking we could order some dessert first."

"Sure." Haley said absentmindedly as Trevor started talking once again. As much as she wanted to Haley couldn't concentrate on a word Trevor was saying. He was a really nice guy and she really wanted to like him, but for some reason she always found herself spacing out, thinking about what this date would be like if it were Nathan with her. She knew it was wrong and she was sure it made her a horrible person but she just couldn't find a way to make herself like Trevor, even more so she couldn't make herself stop liking Nathan. _The heart wants what it wants._ She thought to herself sadly as she prepared herself for another two hours of pure boredom.

~*23*~

"Hello? Peyton? Yes it's Nathan." Nathan spoke frantically into the phone. "Do you know where Haley is? You said her date was at eight. But it's already eleven thirty! What do you mean calm down? What if something happened to her? I'm not being paranoid! I do _not_ sound like a jealous boyfriend!" Nathan exclaimed. "Whatever Peyton, I have to go, I'll talk to you later. Thanks Peyton. Bye."

Nathan hung up his phone with a frustrated sigh. He had been sitting on Haley's doorstep for the past two hours waiting for her to get home. He knew Peyton was probably right and that he was probably just jealous but there was no way he was admitting that, especially to Peyton, she wouldn't never let him live that down.

He hung his head and closed his eyes as he tried to figure out exactly what he was going to say to Haley. He figured he may as well do something productive with all the extra time. This way he'd keep himself distracted from what Haley was doing on her date and he'd have a higher chance of winning her over when she got back. If he wasn't already too late…

~*23*~

"So umm…I had a really nice time." Haley said with a timid smile as Trevor pulled up to her house. The truth was that she just wanted this date to be over with. It was already one thirty in the morning and besides the fact that she was almost to tired to function she was bored out of her mind. Her and Trevor just didn't seem to get along, he seemed to be the complete opposite of her, and not in a good way. She just hoped that he saw it too.

"Me too." Trevor said as he flashed her a smile.

"I'll be seeing you." She said as she got out of the car with every intention of going straight upstairs to have a nice long relaxing bath.

"I guess you will." Trevor said with a smirk as he got out of the car as well. "How about tomorrow?"

"See Trevor, the thing is…" Before Haley could even finish her sentence Trevor had walked over to her and planted his lips on hers, pressing her against the car as his arms made their way around her to box her in. Haley just stood there for a moment, completely stunned, before she realised what was happening. She did the first thing that came to her mind and started to pull away, kissing Trevor felt wrong, very wrong. The only problem was that as Haley moved her head away Trevor moved his forward so that their lips were still attached.

"Trevor." Haley mumbled as she tried to get is attention.

"Haley." Trevor muttered back, not seeming to get the point.

"Trevor," Haley managed to duck under his arm. "I'm sorry but I have to go." She muttered before quickly heading for her house.

She made her way through the door before leaning against it and sliding down to the floor, she felt like the worst person in the world. She had agreed to go out with Trevor even when she knew she had no feelings for him. She had given him false hope and that was wrong of her. Now she had no choice but to go out with him again, there was nothing else she could do.

~*23*~

Nathan lay there in his bed as he tossed and turned. He turned over to look at the clock: 2:00 a.m. He knew there was no use in trying to get sleep, it would never come, so he just lay there as he let the events of the past hour play out in his head.

_Nathan had been sitting there waiting for Haley for the past four hours when at last he saw a black truck coming down the road. _Finally! _He thought to himself as relief flooded over him. It had been pure torture sitting there thinking about all the things that Haley and Trevor could have been doing. As he saw Haley get out of the car and sucked in his breath. She was wearing a light blue dress that complimented her body in every way possible. All he wanted to do was run over to her and kiss her before telling her exactly how he felt about her. He was about to do just that when he noticed Trevor get out of the driver's side and heading over to her._

_Nathan felt the jealousy starting to boil at the pit of his stomach as he started to move closer to the two to hear what they were saying. Just as he was about to reach them he noticed Trevor bend down and kiss her. _Pull away Haley, pull away! _Nathan cried silently to himself as he closed his eyes, wishing for her to somehow hear his silent message. However when he opened them Haley was still there with her lips against Trevor's. The sight of it drove a sharp pain through his chest, tearing at his heart. Nathan knew he had to do something, and fast._

_He was just about to make his presence known when he heard Haley mutter Trevor's name. That was too much for him, the pain was too much for him. The sharp pain became so strong he felt like couldn't breath. Like all the air was being knocked out of him. He was losing her. No, he had _lost_ her. There was nothing that could compare the pain that that realisation caused him. He thought he was going to suffocate, he felt like he was going to die. He quickly ran down the street to where his car was parked before getting inside. He rested his head against the steering wheel and he took deep breaths to try and ease the pain. It didn't work._

_He looked back down the street on last time before starting his car and driving off, driving away from any chance he'd ever had with Haley James and any chance he'd ever had at happiness._

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**Okay so I'm a little unsure about this chapter. I wasn't sure if I exagerated things a little too much and I'm sorry if I did. Please tell me what you thought and if you have any questions or think I could do better on something. I always respond to my reviews so feel free to ask anything. **


	13. Weightless

**Author's Note: Okay so I know that you all probably hate me right about now and to be honest I don't blame you, I would too. One of my biggest pet peeves is stories left or too long and I always promised myself that I would never do that but I did and I'm sorry. The truth is that my life has been a little crazy this summer. I got a modelling contrct and I didn't think it would be that much extra work but on top of working 4 jobs and taking a piano exam next week it really is. I know that it's no excuse and I'm so sorry that I've left this for so long but after next week I will be free to enjoy my summer...well at least until school starts up again :( Anyways, so sorry, but this is my longest chapter yet and I worked really really hard on it so I really hope you guys like it :)**

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_Knock, knock, knock._

Nathan groaned as he rolled over in bed. _Who the hell would come over this early in the morning?_ He thought to himself. He contemplated going to answer the door but decided against it. Whoever needed him could come back in a few hours.

_Knock, knock, knock._

The knocking continued and it seemed to increase in volume as more time passed. Nathan tried one last attempt at falling back to sleep before throwing the covers off of himself and heading for the door.

"This better be good." He muttered to himself as he reached for the doorknob and swung the door open. "What the hell do you want?!"

"Good morning to you too little brother." Lucas smiled back, unfazed. "Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning."

"What are you doing here?" Nathan grumbled.

"Just stopped by with some breakfast, thought we could go play some ball after." Lucas said as he made his way past Nathan and towards the kitchen.

"Sure, come on in!" Nathan muttered sarcastically as he closed the door and made his way into the kitchen where Lucas was putting some bagels out on a plate.

"From Karen's Café," Lucas said when he saw Nathan enter the kitchen.

Nathan didn't respond, he just sat down at the table and grabbed a bagel.

"Someone's not a morning person." Lucas commented with a smile in his voice.

"Shut up." Nathan muttered as he started eating.

"Come on Nate, what's wrong, you can tell me." Lucas prodded when he noticed how unresponsive Nathan was being. His previous amusement turning to concern.

Nathan looked up briefly and muttered an almost incoherent "nothing" before returning his attention to his bagel.

"Nate come on, I know something's bothering you. I consider you my brother now and you know you can tell me anything." Lucas pushed a little more.

"I said nothing's wrong!" Nathan snapped as he finally looked up to meet Lucas' concerned gaze.

Lucas hesitated for a minute- debating whether to push the subject further- before putting his hands up in surrender. "Alright." He conceded. "I'll leave it, for now, but you're going to have to tell me sometime."

~23~

"Tutorgirl, we need to talk." Brooke said as she marched into Haley room with Peyton in tow.

Haley muttered something inaudible before rolling over and trying to fall back to sleep. She didn't know what Brooke was doing in her room so early in the morning and quite frankly she didn't care.

"Tutorgirl I know you're awake so you better get up now." Brooke warned.

"Ugh." Haley muttered as she opened her eyes and sat up in bed. "How did you get in here?"

"Spare key, under the mat." Brooke said curtly.

"How did you know where I kept the spare- You know what, never mind. I don't even want to know. What I do want however, is for you to get out of my room and let me sleep in peace."

"Hmmm…" Brooke seemed to ponder the idea for a minute. "Not going to happen." She concluded with thick resolve as she shook her head.

"Brooke's right." Peyton piped in. "You, girlie, have some explaining to do."

"Huh?" Haley asked, clearly confused. "What do I need to explain?"

"You're date! Duh!" Brooke exclaimed. "Which, by the way, you didn't call me with details about!" Brooke protested with a slight pout.

"That's because it was one in the morning!" Haley exclaimed. She would have found Brooke's expression comical if it weren't so early in the morning.

"So what?!" Brooke threw her hands up in the air. "I don't care what time it was, it doesn't matter, the point is- _wait._ One in the morning?! What were you doing until one in the morning. Oh. My. God. Did you-?"

"What? Brooke?! No! Of course not!" Haley scrunched up her face. "We just went to dinner and a movie."

"And…?" Peyton asked looking intrigued. "How was it?"

"Uh…good? I mean, it was good. Yeah, it was really good." Haley stuttered. There was no way she could tell her friends the date went horribly.

"Really?" Brooke looked at her suspiciously. "It doesn't sound like it was good."

Haley laughed nervously. "What? Why would you say that?"

Brooke looked at her with a smirk. "Because you're voice just went all high like it does when you're lying."

"It does not!" Haley protested, her voice still an octave higher than usual.

"Yeah, it totally does." Peyton nodded in agreement.

"But-" Haley started.

"No more excuses tutor girl, we want the truth and we want it now." Brooke said with a determined look in her eye. Haley knew that look, there was no way she was going to get out of this.

"Okay fine," Haley conceded, "the date was horrible. All he did was talk about himself and how big and famous he was and then when I told him about high school and tutoring he acted like it was terrible that I wasn't popular. We finally got back and then he started to kiss me and I tried to push him off but he just couldn't take a hint and now I have to go out and do it all over again tonight."

"Wait, why are you going out with him again if your date before was so horrible."

"Because," Haley stated. "I used to him to try and get over Nathan. What I did was wrong and I need to make it up to him. I led him on so I need to try my best in this relationship. It's not fair to him to just lead him on and then give up."

"Haley," Peyton spoke up, "you are giving up your happiness and Trevor's. If you're still not over Nathan and you're dating Trevor than it's going to be impossible for you to try your best in your relationship. You're just leading him on further, you need to cut ties now so he can just get over you instead of continuing this even though your heart isn't in it. If you continue this he's just going to fall deeper."

Haley seemed to ponder this for a moment berfore her eyes widened in understanding. "Oh my gosh, you're right. I'm such a horrible person. I can't believe that I did this, I can't believe that I used him like this."

"Haley, you are _not_ a horrible person." Brooke stated firmly. "You are one of the best people I know and we know that you weren't trying to hurt anyone, you were just trying to give a relationship a chance and there's nothing wrong with that. You need to stop beating yourself up about this."

"But-" Haley started.

"No buts." Brooke cut her off with a stern look. "You are going to call Trevor right this instant and you are going to tell him that you can't come tonight."

Peyton reached behind her and pulled out a phone before handing it to Haley with a sincere smile. Haley smiled back as she took the phone and rolled it over in her hands a couple times. She looked at it hesitantly for another second before putting down with a frown.

"He doesn't deserve this. If I'm going to end things I have to do it in person. I at least owe him that. I'll go tonight and tell him everything."

Peyton as quiet for a moment before nodding her approval. "That sounds like a good idea."

Haley looked to Brooke to see her reaction.

"I don't care how it happens, just as long as it happens." Brooke shrugged. "The faster you dump Trevor the faster you can move onto Nathan."

"Brooke!" Haley shrieked.

"What?" Brooke shrugged, unrepentant.

"How can you think like that? Besides," Haley's tone suddenly turned sullen, "It's not like anything's going to happen between Nathan and I anyways, we already know he doesn't feel that way about me." Haley shrugged sadly as she looked at her feet.

Brooke and Peyton looked at each other over Haley's head and shared a sly smile. _If only she knew…_

~23~

Lucas tossed the ball to Nathan after sinking another three pointer.

"So, Nate…" Lucas started.

Nathan sighed.

"Nathan, you know you're going to have to tell me sometime, it might as well be now. I can tell something's wrong."

"I went to Haley's yesterday." Nathan stated vaguely as he shot the ball and watched as it flew through the air and swished perfectly into the basket.

"You went to Haley's?" Lucas asked. "When?"

"During her date." Nathan replied a little sourly as he went to go retrieve the ball.

"You what?!" Lucas asked.

"I just wanted to make sure she was okay." Nathan defended as he raised his hands to shoot again only to have the ball snatched out of his hands by Lucas.

"Hold on a second." Lucas said. "You went over to Haley's to see if she was _okay_?! Why wouldn't she be okay, she was on a date with a movie director, what could possibly go wrong?"

"What if he tried something!" Nathan countered.

"Haley's a big girl Nate." Lucas sighed. "She can take care of herself."

Nathan looked like he was about to protest for a moment but when he saw Lucas' firm expression his shoulders slumped in capitulation. "I know." Nathan said frustrated. "It's just that- argh!" Nathan let out a frustrated sigh as he moved to sit on the bench at the side of the court. "I just- it's just that- when I thought about her and Trevor. I just couldn't do it man. I thought that maybe if she was happy with another guy I could just learn to live with it…but I can't. I just had to see her, had to tell her."

"Tell her?" Lucas asked as he moved to sit beside Nathan on the bench.

"Tell her how I felt." Nathan elaborated.

"So, you mean you went to her house and told her?" Lucas asked hopefully.

"Not exactly." Nathan answered as he sucked in a deep breath. He took in Lucas' confused expression before continuing. "I went over to her house and waited for her but when she came back from her date…" Nathan closed his eyes at the memory. "She made it clear that it was Trevor she wanted."

"She made it clear?" Lucas asked sceptically. "So she _said_ it was Trevor she wanted?"

"Well not exactly…" Nathan said with another sigh.

"Then how do you…" Lucas started but left the sentence unfinished. He didn't want to upset Nathan. He already seem quite distraught about whatever had happened last night.

"I saw him kiss her man okay?!" Nathan stated frustrated, as he ran his hand through his hair. "I heard her saying his name and I just-I just know okay." Nathan voice was strained as he recalled the events of the previous night.

"Man, I'm sorry, that really sucks. I know how much you like her." Lucas reached out an patted Nathan on the back sympathetically.

Nathan looked over at Lucas for a moment and the pain was clear in his eyes. "It's fine." He smiled half-heartedly. "I'm fine. Whatever, it's a stupid crush, it'll go away." Nathan picked up the ball and started dribbling it on the blacktop.

Lucas stayed where he was. It sounded more like Nathan was trying to convince himself than anyone else.

"You coming?" Nathan asked as he stopped in front of Lucas. "Or are you afraid you're going to lose?"

Lucas looked up to see Nathan's taunting expression and a smug smile spread across his face. "You're on." He said as he jumped up off the bench and grabbed the ball from his brother. He would worry about Nathan later, right now he had a game to win.

~23~

Haley checked her hair and make-up in the mirror one last time before she headed down the stairs. She checked her watch, _Trevor should be here any minute._ She thought to herself. She looked out the window but there was no sign of him. She waited for a couple of minutes before heading over to sit at the bottom of the stairs. She sighed to herself before reaching into her purse for her cell phone, toying with it for a second, before putting it back in her bag. She had done this multiple times this evening, she couldn't help herself. She knew she had to go on this date but it didn't stop her from wishing she could cancel.

_Come on Haley, you can do this. It's just one night. It can't be that bad. _Haley tried to calm herself. _Just one night._

The sound of the doorbell ringing made Haley jump slightly in her seat. She shook her head to clear her thoughts before standing up and smoothing out her burgundy halter top which she was wearing a pair of dark navy blue jeans. She took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Trevor." She tried to smile but it came out slightly twisted. "Hi. How are you?"

"I'm good." Trevor looked at her suspiciously. "Is everything okay Haley?"

"Yeah, of course, everything's fine." Haley was well aware of how high her voice sounded and cursed under her breath. Brooke was right, her voice did go high when she was lying. She tried to clear her throat a little and that seemed to do the trick. "Anyways, enough about me, let's head over to the car. We wouldn't want to be late for the-wait, where are we going Trevor? You never told me."

"Don't worry about it," Trevor shrugged. "You'll love it."

"Another surprise?" Haley guessed as she tried not to sound annoyed. She hated surprises.

"Yup." Trevor grinned widely. "But don't worry about it, I know you pretty well Haley James and I know that you are just going to love this place."

Haley gave him a small reassuring smile before turning her head to look out the window. She didn't want him to see how much she was dreading this. She knew it would only hurt him. _I'm going to cause him enough pain tonight, no need to add to it. _She thought to herseof wryly.

"So…" Trevor started. Haley looked over at him, waiting for him to finish his sentence but he seemed lost in thought. Just as Haley was about to turn back to the window she saw a wide grin spread across his face. "Imagine what the paparazzi are going to say when they get a load of this." He flashed his hand out across his face, imitating the headlines. "Famous actress Haley James and award-winning director Trevor Delupe: dating." His grin widened. "Actually I'm surprised they haven't found us already. Apparently there's some huge fiasco in L.A. that's keeping all the paparazzi busy. Some feud between Paris Hilton and Jennifer Lopez, or so I heard. Hopefully it's all over soon, I'm starting to think I'm going to have to call one of them up personally and just tell them where we are or something."

"Wait," Haley put her hand up to stop him. "I thought that we came here so that we could get away from all that. So that we could film in peace without the paparazzi everywhere. I mean, wasn't that the point of coming to such a small town. They people here already know Nathan and I so it's not as big a deal for them and they keep quiet for us and don't alert the paparazzi. It's perfect. Why would you call the press? That would defeat the whole purpose of coming here."

"Haley, Haley, Haley." Trevor shook his head. "You stars don't like the publicity because of the lack of privacy that comes with it but what you don't realise is that you need it. It's what keeps you famous and it's what's going to keep me famous and this movie famous. I figured that the press would keep away for a little while- while they tried to locate us- and the then they would find us and _BOOM!_ The fact that they hadn't been able to locate two of Hollywood's biggest stars would make the discovery that much bigger. Imagine the publicity, imagine the fame, what this could do to our careers…"

Trevor seemed a little off in his own world. Haley stared at him wide eyed for a moment. _Was he serious?_ "Trevor, imagine what this would do to the town. These are good people. If the press found out there would be fans everywhere." Haley gestured around herself in exasperation.

Trevor looked over at her for a moment before focusing back on the road. "Haley the press are going to find out sooner or later. I'm just trying to help you out here." Trevor shook his head slightly. "Anyways, this is a date, not a debate. We can talk about this later."

"Yeah," Haley mumbled. "Later." She turned her head back to the window and noticed that the scenery had changed. There were not longer houses and small businesses lining the streets. Here there were wide buildings with bright flashing lights and loud music blaring from open doors and windows. Haley recognized this place immediately. Back when she was in high school Brooke used to drag her and Lucas up here for parties and clubbing every once in a while. No matter how much they protested she always used to insist that this place had the hottest clubs in town- besides Tric- and that they needed some variety. As Haley watched the buildings fly by she couldn't help the foreboding feeling that was creeping up on her.

"Uh Trevor?" Haley asked nervously. "Where are we going?"

Trevor turned and gave her what was meant to be a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, we're almost there. It's right up there." Trevor pointed up ahead of them to a white building covered in flashing pink and blue lights. There was a huge line starting from outside the door and going all the way down the street and the music was blaring so loudly some of the people passing by we're covering their ears. "What do you think? It's awesome isn't it?!"

Haley looked at Trevor's eager expression cringed inwardly. This was exactly the type of place she avoided at all costs. She much prefered things that were simple and romantic, not loud and promiscuous. "It's…great." Haley lied as she tried to make her smile convincing.

"See I knew you would love it." Trevor beamed. "Do I know my girl or what?"

Haley just smiled at him and nodded slowly before muttering to herself. "Just one night, you can do this."

"Sorry what was that?" Trevor asked as he leaned towards her, taking his eyes off the road to look at her.

Haley's head snapped up, her wide eyes meeting his. "Uh…nothing. Just wanted to let you know that…uhh…" Haley looked out in front of her hoping for an excuse. She was terrible at lying. "That…there's a parking spot right there." Haley pointed to the side of the road where a car was pulling out.

"Oh. " Trevor looked back at the road, seeming slightly disappointed. It seemed he had been expecting her to say something else. "Yeah, that's great, thanks Haley." He gave her a small smile.

Haley smiled back and turned towards the window once more, breathing a sigh of relief. As much as she was dreading breaking the news to Trevor she couldn't wait for it to be over. She felt horrible at times like these, when she could see the plain disappointment on his face and know that she was the cause of it. That she was hurting him and leading him on and that she would never feel that way about him. A part of her wished she could, that she could like him the way he liked her. That would be so much easier. That way she could stop pining over a guy who obviously felt nothing for her and be with someone who liked her back. For a brief second the desire for such a relationship was so strong that she almost considered backing out of breaking things off with Trevor…almost. But then she remembered the past month and a half, the time she had spent with Nathan, and she knew that he was the one she wanted, no one else. Haley sighed to herself and lowered her head. _God, she was such a mess._

"Earth to Haley!" Haley turned to the left to see Trevor standing outside with his head sticking in the window of the truck. "You coming or are you just going to sit there all day?" He smiled a teasing smile at her.

"Oh. Sorry." Haley looked down and blushed from embarrassment. "I'm coming." She unbuckled her seat belt and swiftly opened her door, ready to get out. Just as she was about to step out of the truck she heard a horn honking and jumped back inside, slamming the door just in time to see the van drive past her window. "Woah." Haley exhaled. "That was close." She muttered to herself as she got out of the car and walked over to where Trevor was standing, smirking at her.

"Typical Haley James." He chuckled. "Total klutz."

"Well I do tend to be a little on the clumsy side." Haley conceded with a small smile, she wasn't going to let his little jab get to her. She walked on a little more before something occurred to her. "Wait a minute." Haley stuck her hand out and stopped him, turning to face him. "How did you know I was klutz?" She looked up at him curiously. She was sure she hadn't told him that.

"I know a lot of things about you." Trevor smiled down at her knowingly before looking back up and continuing to walk towards the club. "I know that your favourite colour is purple, your favourite food is Mac n' Cheese, your favourite movie is The Notebook, your favourite book is Wuthering Heights, you come from a big family, you dated 2 other guys before me, their names were Chris and Thomas. You dated Thomas first when you were-"

"Woah, woah, woah." Haley stepped in front of him, forcing him to stop once again. "_How_ do you know all this stuff?" She asked him exasperated. There was _no way_ she had told him any of this.

Trevor shrugged. "It was on your profile."

"My profile?" Haley asked him confused.

"Yes, your profile." Trevor stated matter-of-factly, each word detached, like he was speaking to a child. "On the internet, you've never seen the 'Haley James' profiles? They're everywhere."

Haley stared at him wide eyed for a moment. "You looked up my profile on the _internet_!" She screeched. She didn't give out personal details about herself, she liked to keep as much of her life private as possible. For Trevor to know his much about her he must have looked pretty deep. "Trevor, _why_ would you look up my profile?!" She tried to keep her voice under control as much as possible.

"I had to make sure you weren't a psycho or something." Trevor shrugged, as if he were stating the obvious. "I wouldn't want to end up with some 'Britney Spears' double. You know how movie stars can be."

Haley was speechless. She just stared up at him, eyes wide, mouth hanging open, trying to process everything he was saying. _How movie stars can be?_ _What was that supposed to mean? _"Trevor if us movie stars are such a burden then why would you want to date us?"

Trevor rolled his eyes at her as he started walking once again towards the bouncer. "I'm Trevor Delupe," He said his name with prestige. "Famous Hollywood director. It's not like I'm going to date some nobody. I'm going to date someone that matters." He smiled down at her affectionately. "Someone like you."

Haley looked up at him with fury in her eyes. She couldn't believe he had just said that, even more than that she couldn't believe the look he was giving her now, like he had just complimented her, like she should be honoured that she actually 'mattered' to him. The thought just sent another bout of fury ripping through her veins. _Deep breaths._ She thought to herself. _Nice deep breaths._ "So Trevor." Haley asked, trying to keep her voice as level as possible. "If I weren't famous, then I wouldn't matter?"

Trevor looked down fondly at Haley for a moment and then laughed. "Haley, you can't live your life in the what ifs. But if you want to know, of course you would have mattered. You would've mattered no matter what." Haley gave him a small smile. Trevor glanced down at her before continuing. "Because you would've been famous no matter what. It was fate, your destiny, you were born for greatness."

Haley's smile disappeared from her face and was replaced by a disturbed frown but before she could comment further they were at the front of the line. Haley stood behind Trevor as he talked to the bouncer, she didn't want him to see how upset she was with him.

"Hey man." Trevor smiled at the bouncer. "You gonna let us in or what?"

"Back of the line." The bouncer- a big burly man with dark skin and black curly hair- waved his hand lazily to indicate the very long line.

"Don't you know who I am?" Trevor asked astonished. "I'm Trevor Delupe. Famous movie director!"

The bouncer gave Trevor a once over before motioning back to the line. "As I said, back of the line Travis Deluki."

"It's _Trevor Delupe_!" Trevor exclaimed indignantly. "And if you don't recognize me than maybe you'll recognize my _girlfriend_ Haley James." Trevor reached behind himself and pulled Haley into view.

This time as the bouncer looked over at Haley recognition flooded his face and he smiled a kind smile. "Haley James. It's nice to meet you." He stuck his hand out to shake hers. "My daughter loves your movies."

Haley smiled back at the kind man and shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you too Mr…"

"Lambourne. Aaron Lambourne. My daughter is going to be so jealous." He chucked to himself as he pulled his hand away and went to remove the rope from the entrance way.

"Wait." Haley halted his actions, as she did so she noticed the look Trevor was giving her out of the corner of her eye. She chose to ignore it. He could give her dirty looks if he wanted to. It didn't matter. She knew she was doing the right thing.

Haley reached into her purse and pulled out a photograph and marker she always kept in her purse…just in case. "Maybe your daughter doesn't have to be jealous. How would she like an autographed photo."

Haley watched as Aaron's face lit up. "She would love that. She would think I was the best dad in the world. Could you really do that?"

Haley smiled at the eagerness on the older man's face. As much as she didn't like all the publicity, this was the one thing she did love. How one simple action, one autograph or picture, could just make someone's day. This man seemed like such a good guy and such a good father. She was so happy that she could make him and his daughter so happy. "Of course."

Haley lifted her knee slightly and bent forward as she signed the picture. She straightened up to see a beaming Aaron and a glowering Trevor. She turned away from Trevor slightly and handed Aaron the photo. "Here you go."

"Thank you so much." Aaron said gratefully. "You have no idea how much this is going to mean to her. My little girl idolizes you."

Haley blushed slightly as she smiled. "It's no problem, really."

Trevor cleared his throat, clearly annoyed. "Are we going to get in or should we head somewhere else."

Aaron looked at him and shook his head slightly before leaning over and untying the rope- ignoring the protests of the people waiting in line- to let them in. As soon as the rope was untied Trevor pushed forward into the club without waiting for Haley to follow.

Haley stared at his back wide-eyed for a moment before heading in after him, giving Aaron a small apologetic smile as she passed by him. Once he was behind her Haley heard him whisper in her ear. "If you ask me, a nice girl like you could do _way_ better than him."

Haley turned to face him with an amused smile.

"Just saying." He shrugged innocently before giving her a playful smile and turned back to the protesting crowd.

Haley smiled to herself as she walked further into the club. She would have to make a point to meet with his daughter, he seemed like a very kind man. Haley was still smiling when she noticed Trevor a few feet away, talking to a group of girls.

"Yeah, that's right baby. I directed Changes Of Beauty." Trevor's self-satisfied smirk never left his face and Haley's expression contorted into on of disgust as she turned away from him and headed towards the bar.

"One water please." She told the bartender politely.

The bartender bent behind the bar without look at her and returned holding a bottled water before finally looking up at her. "You're Haley James aren't you?" He said with a smile.

"Yes I am." Haley said, returning his smile.

"You sure you don't want a drink?" He asked her, eyeing her up and down.

"Yes I'm sure." Haley replied politely before opening her water and taking a sip.

"Alright, whatever you say." The bartender shrugged his shoulders.

"Name's Nick by the way." The man said with a casual nod.

Haley was about to respond when she heard a cold voice reply from over her shoulder. "She doesn't care what your name is asswipe, she's with me."

Haley turned to see Trevor glowering at the bartender.

"Trevor calm down." Haley said slightly annoyed as she turned to him. "Nick was just being friendly."

Trevor turned to Haley briefly. "Haley, baby, don't worry about this, let me take care of it." He then swiftly turned back to Nick. "Stay away from my girl." He ordered before turning away from him and grabbing Haley's hand. "C'mon babe, let's go." He didn't even wait for a response before he started heading for the dance floor, pulling Haley along behind him.

"Trevor." Haley said, trying to get his attention as she pulled lightly on his arm. He didn't respond. "Trevor!" Haley said more forcefully as she pulled her arm free of his. "What are you doing? That guy wasn't doing anything wrong, he was just starting a conversation."

Trevor seemed to take Haley's words with a grain of salt. "I know his type Haley, don't be fooled, he just wants in your pants. By the way, why didn't you get a drink baby?" He asked as he looked down at her hand, obviously dropping their previous conversation.

"I don't like to drink." Haley said.

"You…what?!" Trevor asked, appalled.

"I don't like to drink." Haley repeated, irritated by his reaction.

Trevor took in her annoyed expression for a moment before putting his hands up in the air. "Alright, alright! No need to go all diva on me."

Haley bit back her reply. She didn't know what had gotten into Trevor lately but she _did_ know that she couldn't wait for tonight to be over with. "Hey Trevor," Haley asked. "Want to head back? I'm kind of beat anyways."

"What?!" Trevor exclaimed. "We just got here! Let's have some fun." And with that he grabbed Haley's hand and started to dance with her, ignoring the slight grimace on her face.

The rest of the night continued in that fashion, Haley begrudgingly agreeing to all Trevor's suggestions. They danced for a bit, sat while Haley sipped her water and Trevor had a few drinks and then danced some more. By the end of the evening Haley's feet were so sore she could barely walk. She didn't know how she managed to make it out of the club and to Trevor's car but the next thing she knew, they were parked outside her house.

Haley had been dreading this moment all night. She knew that she had to break things off with Trevor but even though he had been driving her up the wall all night, she still didn't want to hurt him. She turned to look at him and noticed that he was looking back at her, a smile on his face. She gave him a sad smile before turning back to look out the window once more. It was so tempting to just say goodnight and head into her house. She could feel her hand itching towards the door handle. _Come on_ she told herself_ you have to do this._ With that, she took two deep breaths and turned to face him.

"Trevor?" She asked in a small voice.

"Yeah baby?" He asked huskily as he started to lean forwards slightly.

"The past two days have been really great and all…" She trailed off and started leaning backwards towards the door as she noticed how close Trevor's face was getting to her own. She could feel the slight panic bubbling inside of her as she watched him with apprehension.

"Yeah, they have haven't they..." Trevor murmured. Haley's back was now pressed against the door of the truck and Trevor's lips were just inches from her own.

"But I think we should just be friends." She rushed out as she shut her eyes tight, preparing herself for whatever was coming next.

"Huh?" Haley could hear the confusion in Trevor's voice and slowly opened her eyes to see that he had pulled away from her and was now leaning back against his seat, his face a mask of confusion. "But, we we're so good together…" He trailed off softly as he turned to face her. "Why?"

"Well it's just that-" Before Haley could continue she noticed that something over her shoulder had caught Trevor's attention. She turned to see what it was but before she could Trevor's voice stopped her.

"It's Nathan isn't it?" He asked, still looking out her window.

"Wh-What about Nathan?" Haley stuttered.

Trevor turned to face her. "Haley, I've seen the way you look at him, and the way he looks at you."

Haley scoffed. "Trevor this is Nathan Scott we're talking about. He doesn't look at me any differently than he looks at anyone else."

Trevor gave her a knowing smile and said sincerely. "It's okay Haley, I always knew you two had chemistry, but when neither of you made a move I thought that maybe I was wrong. I decided to go for it, I thought maybe I could show you something he couldn't. But I was right all along. I knew it."

Haley looked at him closely. He looked proud. Proud that he had known about this supposed 'chemistry' all along. But as she looked closer she could see pain. She had hurt him. "I'm so sorry Trevor." Haley whispered. "I never meant to hurt you. You're a very nice person, really."

Trevor smiled at her. "It's okay Haley, really. I'm fine."

Haley gave him a small sincere smile. Sure, he could be quite obnoxious at times and his views were quite different than her own but all in all Trevor really was a nice guy. "I'll see you at work on Monday?" She asked softly.

Trevor gave her a small nod as she got out of the car. "I'll see you Monday." He repeated before giving her a sad smile and driving off into the darkness.

Haley watched him go until his headlights were red blurs in the distance. She then turned around and headed back towards her house. As hard as that was for her to do, she knew it was the right thing. She could feel the weight being lifted off of her shoulders as she walked up her driveway towards her house. She didn't have to pretend anymore, now she was a free woman. _Free to pine after Nathan Scott_. A voice in her head said sadly, and it was right. As much as Trevor's words were comforting, she knew he was wrong. He was only trying to make her feel better about her unreciprocated feelings for Nathan Scott.

As she reached the top of her driveway she reached into her purse and started searching for her key. She was at the bottom of her porch steps when she finally located them. Just as she was about to pull them out of her bag she heard a deep voice that she knew all too well.

"Haley."

She jumped, startled, before looking up into the deep blue eyes of Nathan Scott.

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**Okay so I know I totally have no right to ask but can you guys please please please leave some reviews for me because they really do make my day SOOO much better :)**


	14. SureFire

**Author's Note: Okay so this chapter was actually supposed to be much longer and contain much more substance but I was having a little bit of writer's block (which by the way I have to thank chriswiss23 for helping me out with, she's got some killer advice and was a HUGE help) and I didn't want you guys to have to wait that long for the next chapter so I have this posted and I have part of the next chapter done so that should be up soon. I hope you enjoy this and please let me know what you think.**

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__As she reached the top of her driveway she reached into her purse and started searching for her keys. She was at the bottom of her porch steps when she finally located them. Just as she was about to pull them out of her bag she heard a deep voice that she knew all too well._

"_Haley."_

_She jumped, startled, before looking up into the deep blue eyes of Nathan Scott._

"Nathan? What are you doing here?" Haley's face scrunched up in confusion as she stared at the deep blue eyes before her.

"I- uh- I…came to visit you." Nathan mumbled.

Haley looked at him carefully, he seemed strangely nervous. "You came to visit me…at eleven thirty at night?" Haley eyed him suspiciously.

"Well it wasn't eleven thirty when I got here." Nathan muttered, but this time he seemed a little annoyed. "Where were you?"

"What?" Haley asked startled. She was beyond confused. First Nathan showed up on the doorstep and now he was interrogating her?

"Tonight. Where. Were. You." Nathan gritted out. His annoyance seemed to be quickly dissolving into anger.

"I-um-I was out." Haley didn't know why she felt guilty. It wasn't like she was betraying Nathan or anything, it wasn't even like she owed him an answer. But for some reason, she couldn't quell the guilt she felt.

"Out with Trevor." It wasn't a question. Nathan's face was now livid.

"Well…yeah." Haley stated. "Nathan, are you okay? You seem a little…upset."

"Me? Upset? Why would I be upset?" Nathan roared as his hands clenched into fists.

"Okay, Nathan I get that you're angry. But you need to calm down." Haley reached forward and put a hand on his chest, hoping to help him calm down somewhat. He seemed to relax at her touch, but only slightly.

"Yeah, we wouldn't want you to have to call Trevor to escort me off of your property." Nathan spat out.

Haley could feel her own temper flare as her tone grew to match his own. "No, we wouldn't, so instead I'm just going to do it myself." Haley moved forward towards him.

"You know what Haley? Don't bother." Nathan said as he moved towards the driveway. "Coming here was obviously a mistake. I'll see you on Monday." And with that he walked off down her driveway and headed down the street towards his car.

Haley shook her head as she watched him go before heading inside her own house. She didn't know what was wrong with Nathan but come Monday she was going to find out.

~*23*~

"And then he just stormed off down the street." Haley finished off. It was Sunday morning and the girls had come over to see how things had gone when she had broken things off with Trevor.

"Wait. So you didn't tell him you and Trevor were over?" Brooke asked disapprovingly.

"Well, I would have if he had just stopped freaking out for a moment to listen to me. Besides what happened between Trevor and I has nothing to do with what happened between Nathan and I."

"Don't you think you should call him and let him know anyways?" Peyton asked.

"Why?" Haley gave her a confused look. "Why would it matter to Nathan what happens between Trevor and I?"

"Ummm…because…" Peyton trailed off as she seemed to be considering something.

"Peyton!" Brooke hissed angrily, giving her a warning look. "You know we can't!"

Haley looked between the two for a moment, obviously confused. "Know you can't what? What's going on?" She asked warily, her suspicions growing as the pair remained silent. "Guys…what aren't you telling me?"

"Nothing." Brooke replied quickly. "Just take our advice and call Nathan, let him know what happened between you and Trevor last night."

"But that has nothing to do with anything!" Haley protested.

Both girls just continued to look at her expectantly.

"Okay, fine!" Haley conceded. "If you guys want me to call him than I'll call him. But I'm just letting you know that this won't change anything." Haley shook her head as she dialled Nathan's number into her phone and listened to the sound of it ringing on the other line. It rang about three times before the line connected. Haley sighed in relief. At least she wouldn't have to leave an awkward message. She opened her mouth to greet him but before she could get a single word out she heard dial tone.

"What the…" Haley trailed off as she shot confused glances at the two girls across from her.

"What happened?" Brooke asked impatiently.

Haley looked at her for a moment before looking back at the phone in wonderment. "He hung up on me."

"What the hell?" Brooke grabbed the phone and hit redial, putting the phone on speakerphone as she waited for Nathan to answer. The phone had barely rung for the second time when someone picked up. Brooke opened her mouth to yell into the phone but just like the previous time the person on the other end of the phone hung up before she could utter a word.

"You know what." Brooke stated as she started to get up and gather her stuff. "I have some business to take care of."

"Brooke…" Haley warned. "Don't."

Brooke turned around and looked at her for a second. "I'll catch up with you guys later." And then she was out the door.

Haley looked after her as she left before groaning. She didn't know where Brooke was going but she did know one thing. "No good can come of this." She muttered.

~*23*~

"NATHAN ROYAL SCOTT! YOU BETTER GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE THIS SECOND OR I'LL-"

Nathan cringed as he heard Brooke's loud voice resonating through his house. "Brooke," He called weakly. "I'm in here." Nathan listened as he heard Brooke's high heeled shoes tapping up his stairs and towards his room. Before he knew it his door was flung wide open and he was faced with a very angry looking Brooke. Nathan cringed once more.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY TO HALEY LAST NIGHT?!" Brooke boomed.

"Brooke." Nathan squeezed his eyes shut as he put his hands over his ears. "Could you keep it down a little."

Brooke looked at him angrily for a second before she paused and took a few deep breaths. Once she had calmed down she took a moment to look around the room. It was only then that she noticed all the empty beer bottles that littered the floor. Her jaw dropped slightly before she turned to get a closer look at Nathan. She seemed to take in his dishevelled hair and his bloodshot eyes before giving him a bewildered look. "How much did you _drink_ last night?!"

Nathan groaned as he pulled his arm over his eyes. "I don't know."

"Well, what made you drink this much?" Brooke asked as she moved towards the bed.

Nathan groaned again. This question, he did know the answer to. How could he forget? "I was kind of an ass to Haley last night."

"Kind of?" Brooke asked sarcastically.

"Okay so I was a huge ass to Haley last night, but what was I supposed to do? I mean I go over to her house only to find her with _Trevor._" Nathan spat out his name. "I mean, what was I supposed to do?"

"Why did you go there in the first place?" Brooke asked him quietly. She seemed to have realised what an effect the previous night's events had had on and her face had softened as a result.

"I don't know, I'm an idiot." Nathan muttered, not making eye contact. "Lucas and I were talking yesterday about what had happened when I had gone over to Haley's after her date on Friday-"

"You went to Haley's on Friday?!" Brooke exclaimed. "Oh my gosh! How could Haley not tell me about this? I can't believe she didn-"

"Brooke." Nathan cut in. "Haley didn't tell you because she didn't know."

Brooke looked up to see Nathan staring down at his hands, his face sullen and his eyes full of hurt.

"On Friday, I went to see her. I thought maybe we could talk. I mean I knew she was on a date but I thought that maybe once she got back… Anyways, she finally came back from her date and I went over to talk to her but then… then I saw her with Trevor…_kissing_." Nathan flinched as he said it. "I couldn't do it, couldn't tell her, so I left."

"Wait. Tell her?" Brooke prodded.

"Tell her how I felt about her." Nathan clarified. "I figured that she should know so I was going to wait until Trevor left and then tell her." Nathan face turned sour for a moment as he muttered. "That obviously didn't work out." He seemed to dwell on that thought for a moment before taking a deep breath and continuing. "Anyways, I talked to Lucas about it yesterday and he thought I should have told her so I gave it some thought last night and figured that maybe if I went when Trevor wasn't there, I'd be able to do it…"

"But Trevor _was_ there." Brooke finished for him with a sad smile as she came to sit beside him of the edge of his bed.

"Yeah." Nathan breathed out. He was quiet for a long moment as he seemed to be deep in thought. Brooke just sat with him, letting him know that someone else was there if he needed. After a couple of minutes she figured she should go, maybe he needed some time one his own. Brooke was just starting to lift herself off of the bed when she heard his voice, no louder than a whisper. "Do you think I'm wasting my time?"

Brooke stopped for a minute as she sat back down and gave Nathan a confused look. "Wasting your time? What do you mean?"

"With Haley." Nathan explained, his voice barely louder than before. "I mean…" He paused as he tried to figure out exactly what he was going to say. "I mean, here I am, chasing after a girl who I know doesn't have feelings for me. She's with the guy she wants to be with and knowing all this I'm _still_ trying to tell her how I feel. How pathetic is that?"

Brooke shook her head. "Nathan, can't you see? Haley fe-" Brooke's face suddenly went blank with surprise as she realised what she had been about to reveal. She quickly shook her head and paused for a moment as she tried to re-gather her thoughts. "No Nathan, I don't think you're wasting your time and I _definitely_ don't think you're pathetic. I think it's sweet, really sweet, that you feel so strongly for her but you have to tell her. You can't move on until you do, until you know for sure she doesn't feel the same way."

"I already know for sure she doesn't feel the same way." Nathan exclaimed in frustration as he shot up into a sitting position, grabbing his head as the to room started to spin.

"Here," Brooke said softly as she headed into the bathroom and got him a glass of water and some aspirin before returning to her spot beside him. "Take these."

Nathan nodded his thanks and gulped down the pills before continuing. "I can't help it Brooke, I tried to make myself stop but I can't and sometimes I think…I think that maybe I don't want to. I mean…I've never felt this way before Brooke. And yeah it hurts, it hurts like hell, but I don't want it to go away either. I just-I just want _her_. I just want to be with her Brooke. But I _can't_. What am I supposed to do Brooke?"

Brooke smiled down at him. "You need to tell her that, you need to let her know. Trust me, it's the only way it'll stop hurting. You _have_ to tell her."

Nathan looked up at her for a moment before nodding. "This is so embarrassing." He muttered. "This kind of thing never used to happen to me before, I would have never told _anyone _about this kind of stuff before, never _felt_ this kind of stuff before and then Haley comes along and now…" He trailed off as he smiled fondly at the thought of Haley and Brooke smiled to herself as she noticed the dreamy look in his eyes.

"That's what happens when you fa-" Before Brooke could finish her sentence the shrill sound off the telephone ringing cut through the warm conversation between the two friends and Nathan cringed before reaching over and hitting the talk button. Brooke waited patiently for him to answer the phone but her eyes widened when instead he quickly pressed the off button without even glancing at the caller ID.

"Nathan!" Brooke shrieked.

Nathan flinched at her harsh tone before turning to look at her.

"What?" He asked, clearly confused and a little annoyed.

"Who was that?" Brooke motioned towards the phone laying on his nightstand.

"I don't know." Nathan mumbled. "Probably Lucas. He's always calling me at odd hours."

"So your just going to hang up on him?" Brooke asked.

"Well right now I have a killer headache and I'm really not in the mood to hear Lucas talking about basketball or some new meal over at Karen's. I'm sure he won't mind if I call him back later."

Brooke shook her head as she reached over him to grab the phone from the nightstand. "Stupid boys, can't do anything right." She muttered.

"What are you doing?" Nathan asked as he watched her frantically hitting buttons on his phone.

"I'm showing you what an idiot you are." Brooke muttered as she shuffled through his call history. "Here." She shoved the phone in his face.

Nathan stared up at her, startled by her sudden annoyance, before turning his attention to the glowing orange screen in front of him. His head was still pounding and his vision was quite blurry but after squinting at it for a moment he could make out the name. 'Haley. 10:30 a.m.' Nathan looked at it for a second before Brooke hit the down button. 'Haley. 10:33 a.m.'

He looked up at Brooke who gave him a pointed look.

Nathan groaned. "I am an idiot aren't I?"

"Yes, you are." Brooke agreed. "She called to talk to you about yesterday, maybe give you a chance to explain, and you _hung up_ on her." Brooke shook her head. "And all because you thought it was _Lucas_."

Nathan rested his head back against the headboard in defeat. "Ugh. I can't believe I did that."

"Well there's no use moping about it now." Brooke said. "We were all supposed to meet at Karen's ten minutes ago. Come on, I'll give you a ride."

"Can't you tell them I can't make it?" Nathan asked as he smiled up at Brooke hopefully.

"Well I could…" Brooke started. "But Haley's going to be there and now would be the perfect time for you to apologize."

Nathan considered this for a moment before he nodded his head. "I guess you're right."

"I'm always right." Brooke smiled smugly. "Get ready and I'll meet you in the car in ten minutes." She started making her way out of the room before swiftly turning and giving Nathan a hard glare. "_Don't_ be late." And then she turned her back on him and skipped out of his room and down the stairs.

Nathan smiled and shook his head. Brooke Davis was _definitely_ one of a kind.

~*23*~

"And for you Haley?" Karen asked as she held her pen over her notepad.

"The usual." Haley smiled up at Karen as she placed her order. Karen returned the smile before quickly writing it down and making her way towards the kitchen.

"Mac and cheese _again_! Don't you ever get sick of it Hales?" Lucas asked with a teasing smile as he leaned back into the booth.

"I could never get sick of Mac and Cheese." Haley protested indignantly. "It's-"

"Food of the gods?" A smug voice asked from behind her.

Haley jumped in her seat and looked up to see none other than Nathan Scott smirking down at her. His blue eyes stood out against the light blue polo shirt he was wearing and she noticed that they seemed to turn a shade darker as they met with her own. Their eyes remained locked with each other's and their intense gazes did not go unnoticed by the rest of the table.

"Yeah…" Haley trailed off as she felt herself melting. Melting away into those beautiful, ocean blue eyes.

"Eh-hem." Brooke cleared her throat loudly before stepping around Nathan and making her way to the booth to sit beside Lucas.

"Nathan." Brooke asked as she looked up at him innocently. "Aren't you going to take a seat?"

Nathan shook his head slightly to clear the Haley-induced haze from his mind before looking around the table. Brooke, Lucas and Jake were all sitting together on the booth on one side of the table and Haley and Peyton were sitting side by side on the chairs across from them. That meant that the only available spot would be right beside…Haley. Of course.

Nathan looked over at Brooke to find her looking quite pleased with herself, a cheeky grin plastered across her face. Nathan shook his head and gave a small chuckle as he took a seat beside Haley. His body was so close to hers that he could feel his skin tingling almost immediately and that all too familiar itch to touch her was creeping into his fingertips. He clamped his hands tightly together and placed them in his lap before risking a glance in Haley's direction. He noticed that she was peeking at him out of the corner of her eye and offered her a small smile, hoping in vain that she wouldn't be too upset about the night before. For a second she looked like she was about to smile back- the corners of her mouth twitching upwards into that smile he loved so much- but then she turned away, her eyes focusing themselves somewhere else. Nathan shook his head. He knew he had to apologize- and he wanted a chance to- but he wanted to do it alone, not in front of all of their friends. He had to get her alone so that she could hear him out. The only problem now would be getting her to actually talk to him.

"Haley." Nathan muttered quietly, hoping to get her attention.

He noticed eyes dart swiftly in his direction but other than that she acted as if she hadn't heard him.

Nathan sighed. "Haley can we please talk later…_alone_."

Haley turned her head towards him for a fraction of a second before turning back to look at the wall. "I have nothing to say to you."

"Please Haley," Nathan made sure to keep his voice low. "It won't take long, I promise, I just want a chance to apologise. Please."

This time Haley turned to look at him. She seemed to analyse his expression for a moment before her face softened slightly. "Okay, after lunch today you have five minutes, that's it."

Nathan sighed in relief before turning back to the table so as not to arouse suspicion. Lucas, Jake and Peyton were in a heated argument about some musician he'd never heard of but Brooke was just staring at him and Haley, a smile on her face.

"Brooke didn't anyone ever tell you it's not nice to eavesdrop?" Nathan asked her.

"Nathan didn't anyone ever tell you it's not nice to hang up on people?" Brooke retorted as a teasing smile spread across her face. "Especially if their name is Haley James, and if you have a _huge_ crush on them."

"Brooke!" Nathan hissed as he quickly turned to make sure Haley hadn't heard. Luckily she seemed quite engrossed in her conversation with Lucas, Jake and Peyton.

"What are you two whispering about over there?" Peyton asked as she turned to Nathan and Brooke.

"Nothing." Both of them answered quickly.

"Uh huh." Peyton looked at them knowingly. "Come on you two. Spill."

Everyone else stopped talking as they turned to see what had captured Peyton's attention.

"We were just…ummm…" Nathan paused as he racked his brain for an excuse.

"We were just talking about this girl Nathan's crushing on." Brooke finished for him.

"Brooke!" Nathan exclaimed.

"What?" Brooke asked innocently. "They're your friends, they should know." She then turned to the rest of the table. "You should see him around her, he's totally head over heels for her. I've never seen a guy so whipped in my life."

"Brooke!" Nathan shouted out. Some people turned in their direction and Nathan quickly lowered his voice. "I am _not_ whipped!' He gritted out.

"You are _so_ whipped." Brooke taunted.

"So…" Peyton broke the two out of their argument, turning to give Nathan a sly look. "This girl. Is she anyone we might know?"

Nathan glared at her before shaking his head. "Nope, no one you know."

"Really?" Peyton asked. "That's…interesting."

"It is." Lucas chipped in, a smug smile on his face.

As Nathan looked around the table he noticed everyone was giving him a knowing smile. Well everyone except for Haley, who looked a little sick to be honest.

"Hey Hales, you okay? You don't look so good." Nathan asked as he looked down at her.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." Haley smiled up at him. "Just a little hungry." The truth was that she felt sick to her stomach. She really didn't think she could listen to this conversation. Sure, she always knew that this day would come, she knew that eventually some girl was bound to catch Nathan's eye, but just hearing everyone talk about Nathan's secret crush made her feel like she was going to be physically sick.

"So this girl," Lucas asked, breaking Haley from her thoughts. "What's she like? Tell us a little bit about her little brother."

Nathan glared at Lucas for a moment before taking a deep breath and leaning back in his chair. "She's amazing." He breathed as the image of Haley filled his mind. "She's the kindest person I've ever met. Her goodness is staggering. She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen and I can never seem to take my eyes off of her. The funniest thing is, she doesn't even know how amazing she is, but if she could see herself through my eyes for just one day, one minute even…" Nathan trailed off as he looked down at Haley. She was looking at her hands in her lap as she fiddled with her pinkie ring.

"Aww, that's so sweet. Don't you think that's sweet Haley?" Brooke asked as she looked over at Haley. Surely Haley must have seen the way Nathan kept glancing at her as he spoke, the look he kept giving her, like she was the only woman in the room, like she was the most precious thing on the planet. _Haley would have to be blind not to see how clear his feelings are. _Brooke thought to herself with a smile.

"Umm…yeah." Haley nodded weakly. "That's...really sweet." What was she supposed to say? This was the guy she hadn't been able to get out of her head for almost two months and here he was, talking about his feelings for another girl!

"So don't you think Nathan should tell this girl how he feels?" Brooke prodded. "I mean if he feels this strongly about her then he should let her know don't you think Haley?"

Haley glanced up at Nathan nervously and gave him a small smile. "Yeah, you should. You should be happy Nate. You should go for it."

Brooke smiled triumphantly as she turned towards Nathan, expecting him to be wearing a matching grin. However instead she was faced with an expression so broken she felt like her own heart was breaking.

Nathan closed his eyes as he took in Haley's words. He knew that Haley would probably say something like that but to actually hear it was a whole other story. It wasn't what she had said in particular, it was what she had meant. It was the fact that she didn't know he was talking about her, that she thought he was talking about some other girl and the fact that she wanted him to 'go for it.' It only proved that she was perfectly happy with him being with someone else, that she _wanted_ him to be with someone else.

"Excuse me." Haley said, cutting through the silence as she got up from the table and bringing Nathan out of his thoughts. "I think Nathan may have been right. I'm really not feeling so good, I'm just going to go home." And with that Haley gathered up her things and hurried out of the café.

"You know what?" Nathan said as he started to get up too. "I'm not feeling too good either. There must be something going around. I'll see you guys later."

Brooke waited until both of them were out of the restaurant before smacking her head against the table. "Stupid idiots!"

Jake looked a little shocked as everything that had happened sunk in before turning to Brooke. "Brooke! Why would you ask Haley that? What good did you think could come of it?"

Brooke lifted her head from the table. "I thought seeing Nathan when he talked about her would make her realise he was talking about her! I mean it was _so_ obvious! Hell, even a blind man could have seen it!"

"But asking Haley what she thought of him acting on it?!" Jake asked incredulously. "Why Brooke?"

"I thought it would make him tell her! I thought he would realise that she would want him to tell her. It was a sure-fire plan!" Brooke exclaimed exasperated.

Jake looked at her for a moment before shaking his head. "Brooke you don't get it do you? They didn't realise anything. Now Nathan thinks Haley's fine with him dating someone else and Haley thinks Nathan has feelings for another woman!"

Brooke looked at Jake blankly for a moment before suddenly smacking her head against the table once more. "Ugh. Stupid, stupid idiot!" Only this time, her comment was directed at herself.

* * *

**Okay so I know you guys might hate me a little cause there's not that much action in this chapter but this is just build up and I promise the good stuff is coming soon...  
****Please let me know what you think because I love to hear from you guys and your reviews are always so awesome and never fail to put a smile on my face :)**


	15. Fearless

**Author's Note: Hey. So I had finished this chapter in the second week of September but I kept thinking I would try and make it better and better because I wanted it to be perfect...big mistake. I've spent these past two months trying to improve it and in the end it was practically the same as it was in the beginning so I really hope it's good enough! Unfortunately it turns out I have to deal with some health issues meaning that I won't be able to update as often as I would like to, I'm really sorry guys, I never thought all this would happen when I started this story. So I guess my question is: Would you guys like me to put up each chapter as I write them or would you like me to finish the story and them put up all the chapters together when it's done. I don't want you guys to lose interest in this story so please please stick with me and let me know what you'd like me to do. If you want I can put a summary of what's happened so far at the begininng of each chapter. My guess is that if I put them up as I write them they should be about a month apart give or take. So sorry again but please let me know what you'd like me to do or if you have any suggestions of your own.**

**As for this chapter. I've worked really hard on it and wanted it to be as perfect as could be. I'm not sure how it turned out but I really hope you all enjoy it. I loved writing this chapter so please let me know what you think! And now...the chapter you've all been waiting for!**

* * *

"Okay so here's the script. This scene comes after James convinces Beth to skip school. They come down here and get drunk. This scene should be easy, just a whole lot of making out." Trevor said as he looked over at Nathan, as if judging his reaction. It was Monday and they were down at the docks preparing for the next scene.

"That- that sounds great." Nathan said as he tried not to sound too excited, although he couldn't help the undeniable quickening of his heartbeat at the thought of making out with Haley. He looked over at Trevor and almost laughed. This guy was her boyfriend and here he was, heart racing, at just the thought of making out with her…how messed up was that? However, as much as Nathan hated himself for it, he couldn't help but look around to see if he could catch a glimpse of her.

"Looking for Haley?" Trevor asked with a raised eyebrow, a smirk on his face.

"What's it to you?" Nathan snapped back.

Trevor's eyebrow rose a little higher as he put his hands up and backed away, turning to talk to one of the cameramen.

Nathan sighed as he rubbed his hands over his face. He had promised himself he wouldn't do anything to upset Haley. He hadn't gotten the chance to talk to her after she had run out of the restaurant the day before so he wasn't officially forgiven yet. His only chance at forgiveness was to be on his best behaviour today. But for some reason as much as he knew he couldn't do anything to jeopardize their friendship, he couldn't help himself. Just seeing her with Trevor, hell, just thinking of her with Trevor, made his blood boil. It seemed like whenever he was around them he just couldn't control himself.

Unfortunately for him, Haley came running onto the set right at that moment, face flushed and breathing erratic. "Sorry I'm late everyone." She breathed out. "I set my alarm this morning but then of course it didn't go off and when I finally got up and out of bed of course knowing me I managed to trip over the first thing on the floor and as if that wasn't bad enough-"

"Haley." Trevor walked up to her and silenced her. "It's fine." Then he leaned down to whisper in her ear. "You didn't tell him?"

"Tell who what?" Haley whispered back.

"Nathan. About us." Trevor explained.

"Get a room." Nathan's sharp tone cut through their hushed conversation.

"Nathan." Haley admonished as she looked at him shocked.

"What!" Nathan bit back. "If you to want to cuddle up with each other, do it on your own time. This is work."

Haley just stared at him, wide eyed, mouth hanging agape as Nathan walked away, but not before he shouted. "We don't have all day, are we filming or not?"

Haley couldn't believe what she was hearing. This wasn't her Nathan, this wasn't that sweet guy that she had fallen for. This was someone completely different.

"C'mon Haley." Trevor nudged her lightly. "Let's go."

Haley looked over her script quickly for a moment and sighed. This was just perfect. As if she wasn't conflicted enough about this whole Nathan scenario, now she had to make out with him. How was she supposed to think through all this while she was kissing Nathan? How was she supposed to think _anything_ while she was kissing Nathan?

Haley let out another loud sigh as she headed for wardrobe and make-up. She spent the next half hour contemplating what to do with her situation with Nathan. She wanted to be with him, she knew that, she knew that she wanted to tell him how she felt. Even if it risked their friendship, and even though he probably didn't feel the same way. She just needed to get her feelings out there. She had decided that last night after leaving the café. But now things were just even more complicated. Sure, of course she wanted to be with Nathan, but she wanted to be with _her_ Nathan, not this cold sarcastic Nathan. It was like he was hot and cold all the time. One minute he was that wonderful sweet guy and the next he was a total jerk. Now she was finding herself confused as to which one was the real him.

"Okay, Miss James." Said the make-up artist, in her clipped British accent. "You're ready to go."

"Thank you." Haley gave the kind lady a smile and nodded her head as she made her way towards the strip of beach at the end of the docks.

"Everyone know their lines?" Trevor asked.

"Yup." Haley said as cheerfully as she could as she made her way to where Nathan was already sitting with a vodka bottle in his hands. He looked like he was contemplating actually taking a swing of it.

"Nathan, don't." Haley warned as she sat down beside him.

Nathan looked at her for a moment and seemed about to put the bottle down when Trevor called down.

"Haley's right. We need you as sober as possible for the shot." Nathan looked up at Trevor, giving him a disdainful look before quickly taking a swing of the bottle.

"Ahh." He sighed. "Nothing like a little vodka to loosen up my system. Right Trevor?"

"Nathan stop it." Haley reprimanded. "Cut this out."

"Defending your boyfriend?" Nathan taunted. "Isn't that his job?"

"Nathan you know, Haley and I, we're not-"

"I don't are about you and Haley!" Nathan jumped up. "The two of you can do whatever the fuck you want because I don't give a damn!"

"What the hell Nathan?!" Now Haley was beyond pissed.

"Not everything is about you Haley." Nathan retorted. "You and Trevor can't be the centre of attention all the time. We know you're dating, we get it! You don't have to flaunt it around every single second of every single fucking day!" By now Nathan was red in the face, his breathing deep and heavy.

"Nathan that's not what we're doing! You don't understand."

"What's there to understand?" Nathan asked.

"That Trevor and I-"

"'Trevor and I' there you go again." Nathan muttered under his breath.

"You know what Nathan?!" Haley yelled. "I don't owe you an explanation, hell, I don't owe you anything! So you can go do whatever the hell you want because quite frankly, I'm sick and tired of putting up with your bullshit!" And with that Haley stormed off towards her car.

"I guess we'll reschedule." Trevor said as he stared after Haley in amazement. She must have been pretty pissed. Haley never swore.

"Whatever." Nathan muttered as he headed towards his car.

In the distance, thunder roared.

"Woah." Trevor looked up at the sky which was darkening by the second. "Maybe it's a good thing we're rescheduling." He noticed Nathan getting into his car and called out to him.

"Nathan you're going home right?"

Nathan just ignored him.

"It's looks like there's going to be a storm. All I'm saying is that I think you should make sure to get inside somewhere."

"Fuck off!" Nathan called back at him as he slammed his door closed and pulled away from the sandy stretch of land and towards the road as the sky continued to darken and the thunder continued to roar.

~*23*~

"Arg!" Haley cried out in frustration as she got the answering machine for tenth time that night. "Come on Nathan pick up, it's me, Haley, and I'm really worried about you. It's crazy out there and I just want to make sure you're okay. Please call me when you get this."

Haley sighed as she hung up. Right when she had gotten home it had started to drizzle, and half and hour later it had turned into a full fledged storm. Roads were closed, people were warned to stay inside and as of fifteen minutes ago the power was out. Haley had been using her cell to try and get a hold of Nathan for the past hour, ever since Trevor had called her and told her that he thought Nathan might be out in the storm.

Haley closed her eyes and shook her head as she dialled another number.

"Hello?" The voice on the other end asked.

"Lucas?"

"Hey Haley. Any news on Nathan?"

"No. I tried calling him again but he just won't pick up!" Haley cried panicked. "What if something's happened to him Luke? What if he's out there?"

"Haley, Haley I'm sure he's fine." Lucas tried to soothe her. "There are five of us looking for him, one of us is bound to get a hold of him at some point."

"How Lucas?" Haley stated exasperated. "With his cell phone which he's not answering? The only way any of us can find him is if we actually go to look for him."

"Haley you know we can't do that. This storm is dangerous, it's one of the worst things Tree Hill has ever seen."

"Exactly!" Haley exclaimed. "This storm _is_ dangerous. There's no way we can leave Nathan out there alone."

"Haley." Lucas tried to reason with her. "Nathan's a big boy, he can handle himself. If he chooses to stay out there in the storm then that's his choice. There's nothing we can do."

"Yes there is." Haley stated firmly. "I'm going to look for him." And with that she hung up, leaving no time for Lucas to protest or try and persuade her otherwise.

Haley quickly walked to the front door and swiftly grabbed her car keys before reaching for her coat and umbrella- although she doubted they'd do much in this weather- as she raced out the front door.

In the time it took her to reached her car she was already drenched and as she opened the door and got into the driver's seat the first thing she did was turn on the heat as high as it would go. She then pulled out of her driveway and sped off to Nathan's house. Unfortunately, due to the roads being closed off, it took her some time to find her way along hidden side roads, but she finally made it there.

She ran up the driveway and started knocking on the door frantically.

"Nathan!" She yelled. "Nathan, are you there?!"

No response.

Haley kept knocking, hoping that the door would swing open at any moment to reveal a dry, safe Nathan. Soon her knuckles were turning red and she could feel the chill from the rain seeping into her bones.

She called Nathan's name one last time before making her way to her car. The second she turned the key in the ignition she could feel the warm heat spreading through her. She sighed as she turned onto one of the side roads that lead back to her house. She looked out the window and smiled softly to herself as she noticed the Marketstreet docks where she and Nathan had filmed their first scene together. She looked for the table where she and Nathan had sat and her smile grew as she saw the perfect outline of the little table with the two seats on either side of it. As she looked closer her eyes suddenly grew wide and she slammed on the brakes. There, sitting on _their_ table, was the outline of Nathan Scott. She would know that body anywhere. The broad shoulders, slightly hunched back, short cut hair… Haley hastily parked her car on the side of the road and hopped out, heading straight for Nathan.

"Nathan!" She called out as she ran towards him. "Nathan!"

He didn't seem to hear her so she just kept on running until she finally reached him, out of breath.

"Nathan." She panted when she finally reached him.

Nathan froze where he was before spinning around and jumping off of the table. His mouth went dry at the image that greeted him. There was Haley, hair soaking, completely drenched, without a trace of make-up and she had never looked more beautiful. He could feel himself starting to lean towards her and he had to fight with everything in him not to lean down and kiss her.

"Nathan." Haley breathed as she looked into his eyes. "What are you doing out here?"

Suddenly all the events of the past day came back to him. Haley didn't want him, she was with Trevor. "What does it matter to you?" He asked back, a little harsher than intended.

"Nathan!" Haley admonished. "I care about you! Of course it matters to me if you're okay!" Her voice softened.

"You care about me, huh?" Nathan asked, he shook his head and sighed before changing the topic. "Haley you really shouldn't be out here. It's not safe. You need to get indoors."

"No Nathan!" Haley said adamantly. "I've been all over town looking for you and now that I've finally found you I'm not just going to leave you."

Nathan's eye softened for a moment. "You were looking for me?" He asked softly. "Haley, you shouldn't have come out here in all this," He motioned around himself. "For me. You should have stayed indoors. I can't have anything happen to you. You mean too much to me."

"And you don't think you mean just as much to me?" Haley asked in disbelief. "Nathan don't you get it? I care about you, you're my friend, I'm not just going to leave you out here! I can't have anything happen to you either."

Nathan could hear the sincerity in her voice and could feel it pulling at his heart. He started to feel himself getting pulled in again before her words suddenly registered. _You're my friend._ "Of course I am." He muttered to himself.

"What?" Haley asked him, confusion clearly etched in her features.

"Nothing." Nathan muttered, brushing it off. They were both silent for a moment before something occurred to Nathan. "How did you know I was out in the storm?"

Haley smiled shyly at him. "Trevor told me that he thought you might still be outside. You have no idea how worried I've been Nathan…"

"Yeah, Trevor." Nathan muttered in disgust. "Of course he did. Isn't he a saint? Just perfect! You two make a wonderful couple by the way." Nathan practically spat the last few words.

"You don't know the first thing about Trevor and I!" Haley exclaimed as her temper started to rise.

"Okay than tell me!" Nathan exclaimed. "Or should I guess? What he's like your prince charming? Your knight in shining armour? You know what? I don't even want to hear it."

"What is your _problem_?" Haley cried.

"_You_ are my problem. And _Trevor_ is my problem. And-argh! I can't do this anymore Haley! I'm done." Nathan shook his head as he took a deep breath.

"Done? Done what?" Haley asked him confused.

"Our friendship. I don't think we should be friends anymore." Nathan closed his eyes as he said the words. He couldn't imagine his life without Haley. The thought alone made his heart ache, but not nearly as much as seeing her every day with Trevor and knowing he couldn't have her.

"What? Why?" Haley asked panicked as she looked at him. She may not have known him for a very long time but she couldn't imagine what her life would be like without him.

Nathan looked into Haley's eyes, filled with a sort of desperate sadness, and his heart ached for her. All he wanted was to be there for her. He wanted to be _the one_ for her. The one who made her happy, the one she wanted. He knew that that guy wasn't him but as he looked into her eyes he couldn't help but hope.

"Nathan." Haley almost whispered taking a small step forward so there was only a few feet between them. "Why can't we be friends anymore?"

As Nathan looked into her eyes he could feel something in him snap, and all of a sudden all of his anger and pain and all the emotion he had been holding in for the past two months came pouring forth and as much as he wanted to control himself he just couldn't.

"Because it's too damn hard that's why!" He exploded. "Do you have any idea what this is like for me Haley?! Have you even thought about how this feels for me? To have to watch you, to touch you, to be around you every single damn day and know that I can't have you? That you'll never be mine? Can you even imagine what that feels like for me? To have this gorgeous, perfect girl if front of me and to want her more than anything else in the world and know that I can _never_ have her? That I'll always be 'the friend'? It's pure torture Haley, that's what it is! And then if that's not bad enough, as if I haven't suffered enough, I have to watch you with someone else! I have to watch him touch you and kiss you and hold you and know that I'll never be able to do that! And I want to so bad…" Nathan trailed off as he said that last part and started to get control over himself again. _What had he done?! How could he have been so stupid?!_

Nathan opened his mouth to apologize but before he could get a single word out Haley's lips were on his, moving over his, and he could feel his mind hazing over as he kissed her back. His lips moving fervently against hers. He didn't know what was going on and why Haley was kissing him, but he was going to take advantage of it for as long as possible before she realised what she was doing and ran back to Trevor. He knew it was wrong, that it was wrong to Trevor, and that he should feel guilty, but he didn't, not one bit. He had wanted this for so long and now that it was happening, he didn't want it to end, even if it wasn't real.

"Nathan." Haley pulled away breathing heavily as she wrapped her arms tighter around his waist. "You can't even imagine how hard I've fallen for you these past two months, how long I've waited for this."

Now Nathan pulled back, stepping out of her embrace with a confused look on his face.

"Nathan?" Haley muttered. "Nathan is something wrong?"

"You…want _me_? But…Trevor…and you two are dating and…" Nathan couldn't wrap her head around it. Did Haley like both of them? Because if that was the case he couldn't do it. As much as he wanted her he couldn't bear the thought of sharing her with someone else. He wanted her all to himself.

"Trevor?" Haley laughed, relieved. For a second she had been worried he had changed his mind. "Nathan, Trevor and I broke up. That day you were on my doorstep, that was right after we ended things."

"You…what?!" Nathan asked incredulous.

"We broke up Nathan." Haley said as she smiled at him. "I was dating him because I thought I couldn't have you. And I mean, yeah, it was wrong and horrible of me to do but that day in the club when I asked you how you felt about me and you said you only saw me as a friend, well I realised that you didn't think of me that way so I figured that I had to move on and then Trevor was there and at first I was going to say no but then I thought about you and-"

This time it was Nathan's turned to cut Haley off mid-ramble as he grabbed her hips and pulled her body flush against his own, capturing her lips in a searing kiss.

"Mmmm…" Haley moaned.

Nathan smirked against her lips. "You know I love your rambles Hales, but there are much better things you could be doing with those lips."

As if in agreement Haley wrapped her arms around his neck and tried to pull herself even closer to him. The rain poured down on them and the thunder roared but both of them were too wrapped up in each other to care.

It wasn't until Nathan felt Haley shiver that he pulled away. "We should get you inside."

"Nathan I'm fine." Haley protested.

"No you're not." Nathan said as he wrapped his arm around her and starting leading her towards where her car was parked. "You're shivering."

Haley opened her mouth to protest but swiftly closed it again. The cold wasn't the only reason she had been shivering but she wasn't going to admit that to Nathan.

"Nathan what about your car?" Haley asked as they got closer to her own car.

"It's at home. I dropped it off there before I walked up here." Nathan said casually.

"You what?!" Haley screeched. "In this weather Nathan? You knew there was going to be a storm and so you decide to _walk_?! Were you _trying_ to kill yourself?"

"No." Nathan muttered. "I was trying to get _you_ out of my head."

Haley gave him a puzzled look and he took a deep breath. "That's kind of why I've been an ass lately. It was just…seeing you and Trevor around all the time, it was kind of getting to me, and I _might_ have taken it out on you. I'm sorry." Nathan gave a small grimace and a guilty smile.

"It's okay." Haley gave Nathan a small smile which soon became teasing as her tone changed. "Nathan Scott jealous? Who would of thought?"

"I wasn't jealous." Nathan muttered.

Haley gave him a pointed look.

"I wasn't." He insisted.

"Then what were you?" Haley asked him.

"I just didn't want him…taking advantage of you or anything like that...you know how guys can be." Nathan's excuse sounded feeble even to himself.

Haley smiled to herself. "Okay Nathan."

Nathan sighed in relief. Glad that she was going to let it go. His relief was short-lived though because a few seconds later Haley skipped out of his arms singing. "You were jealous, you were jealous!"

Nathan smiled as he watched her. "Maybe a little."

Haley grinned at him. "Or a lot."

Nathan thought about arguing that but instead just smiled at her. "Or a lot." He agreed.

Haley laughed and stretched her arms out as she spun around in a circle. "I love the rain."

Nathan looked at Haley standing there in front of him, the girl of his dreams, and she was his. He couldn't help the huge grin that stretched across his face. She was finally his.

"What?" Haley asked as she looked at him.

"You're mine." Nathan said his grin firmly in place.

"I'm yours." Haley agreed as she reached her arm out and wound it around his waist.

"By the way," Nathan said as they continued to walk towards her car. "The only reason I told you that I thought of you as a friend was because I thought that's what you had wanted me to say."

"That's not what I had wanted you to say." Haley smiled softly up at him.

"Well, good." He smiled back. "Because that's not what I had wanted to say."

"And what _had_ you wanted to say?" Haley asked him with a sly grin as they reached her car.

"This." Nathan said huskily as he pulled her to him and captured her lips. He didn't know how he had been able to go without this before. He couldn't seem to get enough of her, he didn't think he ever would. She was just so damn intoxicating. She pulled away and he smiled at her, taking in the moment.

"What are you thinking about?" Haley asked him.

"Just that…I can't believe this is happening, like really happening. I've wanted this for so long."

"So have I." Haley smiled at him.

"Come on girlfriend." Nathan smiled as he opened her door for her. "Let's get you home."

* * *

**So there it is. Finally. Please let me know how you liked it. For me this was the most important moment in the story so I hope I captured it well. Please leave a review and tell me what you thought of the chapter and how you'd like me to continue this story. I love your reviews, they always make me smile :) Thanks for sticking with me!**


	16. Perfect

**Author's Note: Hey guys. I tried to make this chapter nice and long to make up for the wait. I really hope you like it and feel free to tell me if there's anything I should improve. I gladly accept any constructive critisicm, I only want to become a better writer. Anyways, hopefully since there's no One Tree Hill on right now due to Christmas, this will help you get that fix of Naley :) Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Nathan and Haley rushed into the house and Nathan quickly closed the door behind them as he hurried upstairs to find them some towels and clean clothes.

"Here," he returned minutes later wearing a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt as he handed her some clothes and a towel to dry off. "The bathroom's right down the hall."

"Nathan are you sure it's okay if I stay here, I mean the storm might go on all night. Maybe it would be better if I headed home before it gets any worse." Haley was reluctant to go but knew it was probably for the best, they had just started their relationship and she knew it would only add more pressure if she spent the night.

"Haley," Nathan walked up to her and cupped her cheek, loving the fact that he was now able to do that. "Don't worry, there's no pressure."

Haley stood on her tip-toes and gave him a small kiss on the lips. It was like he read her mind. "Thank you."

Nathan smiled down at her. "You're welcome. Now let's get you into some dry clothes."

Haley smiled back at him before heading into the washroom to change.

Nathan looked after her for a few minutes before making his way into the living room and lighting some candles. He also pulled out some board games and grabbed some wood to start up the fireplace. Once he was satisfied with his work he sat down on the couch and waited for Haley to finish. When after a couple more minutes she still hadn't returned he started to get a little nervous.

"Haley?" He walked over to the bathroom and knocked on the door. "Is everything okay?"

There was a slight pause. "Umm…Do you have any other pants?" He heard her ask. "Something with a smaller waistband maybe?"

The door cracked open and Haley's head peeked out.

"Uhh…I don't think so Hales." Nathan replied. "Why? Do they not fit?"

Haley shook her head.

"Here let me see." Nathan opened the door before Haley could protest and his mouth went dry. _Man, his girl was hot._

Haley was standing there in nothing but his t-shirt. The shirt hung loosely over her petite frame and came down to mid-thigh, leaving her beautiful shapely legs exposed. He almost groaned at the sight. He could see her squirming under his heated gaze and tried to clear his throat so he could talk more clearly.

"Nathan?" Haley asked nervously as she tried to pull the shirt down more.

"I don't see what's wrong with this." Nathan muttered, still not completely there.

"Nathan!" Haley screeched.

"Umm…I'll be right back." Nathan ran upstairs and into his room. He closed the door behind him and rested his head against it, breathing hard. He tried to distract himself from the fact that Haley was downstairs, in nothing but his t-shirt, looking sexy as hell. He knew he would never pressure her into anything she wasn't ready for, but that still didn't change the fact that he wanted her.

"Nathan?" Nathan heard Haley calling him from downstairs. "Did you find anything?"

Nathan ran over to his dresser and started looking through his stuff. He found some of his old basketball shorts and dug through them until he found a pair with ties. He pulled them as hard as he could...hopefully that would fit Haley. He grabbed them and ran back downstairs.

"Here, I hope this works." Nathan handed her the shorts as he tried his best to focus on anything other than her current attire. "Try pulling the ties and maybe rolling them a few times…although you don't really need them," He added. "I mean that shirt is long enough…"

Haley took the shorts out of his hands and shook her head as she muttered "boys" before closing the door.

"Hey!" Nathan protested.

He heard her laugh softly from the other side of the door and he smiled to himself as he made his way back into the living room. It seemed like that was all he could do...smile. He didn't think he could stop if he wanted to. He had been waiting for this for so long, he never thought it was possible that Haley would ever feel the same way about him and that he would ever get to be with her. But here she was, his girlfriend. Just the thought made him smile wider as he sat down on the couch.

"What are you smiling at?" Haley asked him as she walked into the room. Her question was soon forgotten as she looked around the room. "Oh...my..." Her eyes roamed over the numerous candles scattered about. She smiled at him. "You did this?"

"I was hoping you'd like it." He looked up at her beaming face.

Haley smiled back at him before something caught her eye. "Oooh, is that monopoly?!" She squealed as she ran over to the coffee table where a pile of board games were stacked. She started pulling it out of the pile and setting it up on the floor. "I haven't played this since I was a kid. I remember my dad would always try and move his piece a few extra spaces while my mom would try to distract me. Taylor would be stealing out of the bank while Vivian was trying to stop everyone from cheating. I used to sit there in my Winnie The Pooh pyjamas with Mr. Waffles on my lap, just trying to keep up with everything."

Nathan smirked at her as he made his way over to her and took a seat on the floor beside her. "What was that, like yesterday?" He asked her, his tone teasing.

"Oh, shut up." She laughed as she pushed his chest. "So, who do you want to be?"

"What?"

"Which character?" Haley asked as she held up the little figurines.

"Umm…I'll be the hat." Nathan said as he took it out of her hand.

"I'm the dog!" She squealed out to no one in particular. "Isn't this exciting?"

Nathan chuckled to himself. She was so damn adorable. He picked up the die and handed it to her. "Here, you can go first."

Haley squealed in excitement once again as she shifted her position and started the game.

_Three hours later…_

"Well, look at that. I guess I won."

"Nathan! You did not! I saw you sneaking money out of the bank."

"What? Me?" Nathan asked innocently.

"Yes you!" Haley exclaimed, although the teasing smile never left her face. "I saw you sneak two fifties when I passed 'Go.'"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Nathan shook his head, giving her a sly smile. "I won fair and square."

"Whatever, you cheater." Haley smiled as she finished packing up the game and placing it back on the coffee table. She then stood up and stretched as she stifled a yawn.

"Tired?" Nathan asked her as he stood as well.

"Maybe a little." Haley smiled sleepily.

"Come on, let's go upstairs." Nathan led Haley up the stairs and showed her into the guest room. "Here you go. The bathroom's down the hall to the right." He pointed in the direction of the bathroom. "And my room's just across the hall in case you need me. Do you need anything else?" Nathan asked.

"Nope. I think I'm good." Haley gave him a smile and leaned up to give him a goodnight kiss. Nathan groaned into her mouth at the unexpected contact. "'Night." She told him when they finally broke apart.

"Goodnight." He smirked as he leaned down for another kiss. He wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her body flush against his. He didn't know how he had waited this long to tell her how he felt, how he had ever lived without this. This was the most amazing feeling in the world. The feeling of Haley's lips on his, her tongue stroking his, knowing that she was finally his. He kissed her more hungrily. He just couldn't get enough of her.

"Nathan." Haley panted as she pulled away.

"Yeah?" Nathan asked huskily.

"We really should…go to bed. It's getting late."

"You're right." Nathan sighed as he leaned down and planted a soft kiss on her forehead. A small smirk formed on his face. "I guess I'll kiss you later." He winked at her, and with that, he was gone.

_Two hours later…_

Haley was jarred awake as a shudder rippled through her body. She tried to wrap the quilt tighter around herself but it seemed to do no good. She could hear the rain tapping on the window as the thunder continued to roar and it did nothing to warm her up. She was just about to get up and go ask Nathan for another blanket when she heard a soft knock on her door.

"Hey Hales?" Nathan asked quietly. "You awake?"

"Yeah." Haley nodded, causing her teeth to chatter.

"I think the heat's gone out."

"Yeah." Haley nodded again. She was getting colder by the minute.

"Hales?" Nathan asked as he moved closer to the bed. "You okay?"

"I'm f-f-fine." Haley chattered out.

"No you're not." Nathan said firmly. "Come on, I have a sweater in my room."

Haley just nodded as she stiffly got out of bed and followed Nathan across the hall and into his room. She immediately noticed the difference in temperature. His room was much warmer than hers. "Here." Nathan handed her a sweater as he threw one over his own head. "I think you should stay here for tonight. The guest room is above the garage, that's why it's so much colder. Here, get under the covers." He wrapped the covers securely around her before making his way out of the room.

"Wait!" Haley called out as she started to sit up. "Where are you going?"

Nathan turned in the doorway. "I'm going to sleep in the guest room." He said it like it was the obvious thing in the world before turning to leave again.

Haley's voice stopped him once more. "Are you crazy? It's freezing in there, you said so yourself. Come sleep here." Haley looked at him sternly.

"Haley really it's fine-" Nathan started.

"No, Nathan, it's not fine. You're not going to freeze. You're sleeping in here and that's final."

Nathan turned to her with a slight smirk. She was kind of sexy when she got all bossy like that. "Alright, alright. Just give me one second."

Nathan quickly left the room and returned with a sleeping bag in his hand which he promptly began laying out on the floor.

"Nathan!" Haley admonished.

"What?" Nathan looked up at her, taken aback. "What'd I do?"

"Why do you have to make this so difficult?!" Haley rubbed her had across her face in frustration. She patted the spot beside her on the bed. "Get up here."

"Haley…look it's fine really, I really don't mind-"

"That may be true Nathan. But _I_ do. I don't want my boyfriend." She smiled at the use of the word. "Sleeping on the floor when there's a perfectly good bed right here."

"Hal-"

"Nathan would you let me sleep on the floor?" Haley asked him, cutting him off.

"Of course not but-"

"Exactly. So stop being so stubborn and come lie down. If you don't than I'm going back to the guest room."

She smiled when she saw Nathan come up beside her and climb under the covers. "That's more like it."

Nathan chuckled. It wasn't that he didn't want to lie here with her, it was quite the opposite actually. He would love to spend the night here with Haley, but he didn't want her to feel pressured or uncomfortable. At that thought he looked over at her and noticed her shaking slightly. "Hales, are you okay?"

"Yeah." She replied trying to seem as normal as possible. Although Nathan's room was considerably warmer than her own, it was still quite cold. A shiver ripped through her a second later.

"Haley, I can see you shaking. Come here." Nathan opened his arms for her and she sidled up to him and rested her head against his chest. She was freezing.

Nathan wrapped his arms tightly around her and rubbed his hands up and down her arms and back in an effort to warm her up. "Better now?"

Haley nodded as the cold feeling seemed to dissipate in the warmth of Nathan's arms. She felt so safe there, it just felt so right. She could smell his cologne mixed with aftershave and she inhaled deeply. He smelt so good. She just wanted to stay here in his arms forever. _This was the perfect ending to a perfect day. _Haley smiled at that thought as she finally drifted off to a peaceful sleep in Nathan's embrace.

~*23*~

Nathan slowly opened his eyes as the bright light filtered into the room through the half open blinds. He was confused as to where he was for a few seconds before it all suddenly came rushing back to him. He looked down into his arms and sure enough, there was Haley, fast asleep. He took her in. Her hair was spread across the pillow behind her and her face was so serene. He wanted to kiss her so badly, but he didn't want to wake her. Instead her settled for reaching out and tracing his thumb over the smooth skin of her forehead, he moved down to her cheek, and then to her lips. Her lush, pink, delicious lips. He couldn't help but lick his own in response. His eyes then travelled back up her face and he was surprised to find her staring back at him.

"Hey." He said huskily.

"Hey." She mumbled, the sleep still evident in her voice. "What are you doing up so early?"

He smiled at her. "Watching my girl. You know, she's pretty sexy when she's asleep."

Haley smiled back, playing along. "Oh yeah? What about when she's awake?"

Nathan leaned in and whispered against her lips. "Even sexier."

"Mmm…" Haley muttered as she kissed him softly before pulling away to look into his eyes. "How did you sleep last night?" She asked him.

"Best night of my life." Nathan muttered. And it was. There was no feeling that could compare to holding Haley in his arms while he drifted off to sleep.

"Me too." Haley smiled up at him. She held his gaze for a long moment before her stomach growled noisily. Her face blushed a deep shade of red as she looked down. "Well, that was embarrassing."

"Come on." Nathan smiled at her affectionately. "Let's get some food in you. Maybe we can head over to Karen's since this place is still an ice box."

"Yeah." Haley agreed, still slightly pink from embarrassment.

"Your clothes are down in the kitchen. Hopefully they're dry by now." Nathan said as they made their way out of bed and down the stairs.

Haley quickly made her way into the kitchen. She was freezing and wanted to change and head out as soon as possible. She was happy to find her clothes resting by the window in the kitchen nice and dry. She quickly grabbed them and went into the washroom, pulling them on before hurrying out into the foyer. She went to the front door where her boots were and looked at them disdainfully, they were soaking. She took her foot and moved it reluctantly towards the boot, grimacing when her foot came into contact with the wet, cold material. She heard a chuckle to her left and her head whipped around to see Nathan standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking quite amused. She gave him a small glare and went back to placing her foot inside her boot. Nathan chuckled again.

"What?" Haley whined as she turned to look at him. "It's cold and…wet." She shuddered.

Nathan let out a low laugh as he walked up to stand beside her. "How about we stop at your house along the way and you can pick up some clean clothes and dry shoes?"

"That sounds…" Haley reached up and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Awesome."

"Alright, well let's go." Nathan said as he reached for his shoes.

Haley hurriedly shoved her feet into her boots, wincing when she heard her socks squish against the bottom, and started pulling Nathan out the door.

"Haley." Nathan laughed as he tried to put his shoes on.

"Come on." She said determined. "Clean dry clothes await."

Nathan laughed as he quickly tied up his shoes and followed her out the door. His girl was definitely one of a kind.

~*23*~

"Okay, so I stopped by Haley's house on the way here and she's not there. I tried calling her cell phone but it's turned off and now I'm not really sure what to do." Lucas said as he and Brooke took a seat in two chairs across from Jake and Peyton. Lucas had called them all over to Karen's Café. All he had said was that it was important and that they all needed to be there as soon and possible.

"Wait. What exactly is going on?" Jake asked.

"You remember yesterday, when we couldn't find Nathan? Well Haley went out into the storm to try and find him..."

"Wait what?!" Peyton exclaimed. "Lucas! Why didn't you tell us?!"

"What would you guys have been able to do? Besides I used up the rest of my phone battery trying to call her. I thought that eventually she would give me a call to let me know if she found Nathan or not and to tell me she's okay but I haven't gotten anything. Haley's the most organized and responsible person I know. Whatever's happened, it must be pretty big for her to have forgotten to call."

"Oh my gosh!" Brooke exclaimed. "Maybe there was a murderer out in the storm and he saw her looking for Nathan, and now she's like dead in a ditch somewhere." She gasped. "Or maybe she found Nathan, and then they got mauled by a bear or something!" Her eyes widened. "Or maybe…"

"Brooke." Lucas cut in. "A bear? Really? Where would you find a bear in Tree Hill?"

"There are bears in Tree Hill. There are bears everywhere." Brooke argued.

"Not in Tree Hill." Lucas retorted.

"Have you ever gone looking for a bear in Tree Hill?" Brooke asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Of course not! Why would I go _looking_ for a bear?"

"So then how do you know there are no bears in Tree Hill, if you've never gone looking for one?" Brooke challenged.

"Okay Brooke. So one possibility is that they got mauled by a bear." Lucas said with a roll of his eyes. "Any _other_ possibilities."

Peyton snickered. "Maybe they finally admitted their feelings for each other and were _distracted_ to give you a call."

"Peyton!" Lucas exclaimed. "I did _not_ need to hear that. Haley's like my sister and Nathan _is_ my brother."

"Come on, Lucas." Brooke rolled her eyes. "You have to get over it, it's going to happen happen at some point, I mean their feelings are so obvious."

"I know." Peyton agreed. "I mean, even Jake can see it, and he's _totally_ clueless."

"I'm right here you know." Jake muttered. Peyton patted his arm sympathetically.

"Come on guys." Lucas cut in. "This is serious. We need some _realistic_ suggestions."

"Hey!" Peyton exclaimed.

"It could happen." Brooke added defensively.

Lucas looked at the two skeptically before continuing on. "What I'm thinking is that we split up into two search parties. One will look everywhere that Nathan might be and the other will look everywhere for-"

"Haley!" Brooke shrieked.

"Yes Brooke I was just about to say that, no need to-"

"No you idiot!" Brooke smacked him in the arm. "Haley." She pointed in the direction of the door, where Nathan and Haley had just walked in.

"Nathan! Haley!" Jake called them over as Peyton waved. Nathan and Haley turned to look at them before slowly made their way over to the group.

Before they could even get halfway to the table Brooke was on her feet. "Where on earth have you two been?! And why haven't you answered your cell phones?! Do you have any idea how worried we've been?! We were about to send out a search party..." She waved a finger in their faces.

"Oh my gosh!" Haley brought a hand to her head. "I totally forgot to call you guys to let you know everything was okay. I'm so sorry!"

"You should be." Brooke whined. "Broody was so worried about you guys that we couldn't even enjoy being stuck in the storm together."

"Wait." Haley looked at Brooke, confused "Enjoy being in the storm togeth…" Suddenly her eyes widened as she caught on to what Brooke was saying. "Okay ew! I _so_ did not need to hear that!"

"Well consider it punishment for not calling." Brooke pouted. "I mean what could you have possibly been doing that was so important that you forgot to call?"

"Umm…" Haley looked up at Nathan.

"Uhhh…" Nathan smiled sheepishly.

It was then that Brooke look down at their intertwined hands. "Oh…My…God…"

Haley noticed Brooke's gaze and her face flushed pink.

Brooke took this as confirmation. "You guys are together?!" She shrieked loudly, causing a few people turned their heads.

"Oh my god Brooke!" Nathan winced. "My ears!"

"Wait what?" Lucas stood up. "You guys are together?"

"Well…" Haley looked up at them shyly. Nathan smiled proudly and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Oh my god!" Brooke shrieked again. "I can't believe it! You guys finally told each other how you feel! Took you long enough!" This time the whole restaurant turned to look at them.

"Brooke." Haley whispered as she turned and even deeper shade of red. Nathan just chuckled beside her.

"Cheery." Lucas rubbed her back. "Maybe it would be best if you used your inside voice."

"Alright everyone." Brooke announced to the restaurant. "Carry on with whatever you were doing." She then turned to Nathan and Haley. "It's about damn time." She whisper shouted.

Lucas chuckled beside her. She hit him in the arm. "And you..." She turned to him. "_We need some realistic suggestions."_ She mocked with her hands on her hips.

"Okay okay, I'm sorry, you were right." Lucas put his hands up in surrender. "But I mean seriously, how was I supposed to know Nathan would finally grow a pair and tell Haley how he felt. I mean what were the chances?"

"Hey!" Nathan protested. Haley giggled beside him but stopped abruptly when he looked over at her. Her expression however, remained smug and amused.

"He's right." Peyton nodded over to Lucas as she and Jake moved forward to stand with the rest of them. "I mean Brooke and I thought that you were never going to tell her."

"Wait." Haley looked around at her friends. "So everyone knew…"

"Yeah, we all knew that you guys liked each other." Peyton cut in. "In fact, I don't know anyone who didn't know."

"Hold on a minute." This time it was Nathan's turn to look confused. "You all knew that we liked _each other_. So you guys knew that Haley felt the same way about me?"

Lucas looked over at Nathan guiltily while the others avoided his gaze.

"So this whole time I was freaking out about whether or not she felt the same way, _and you guys knew_?" Nathan looked at them angrily.

"You were freaking out about whether or not I liked you?" Haley asked softly, looking up at him with a shy smile.

"Uhh…ummm…" Nathan looked around embarrassed. "What I mean…is that…well you see…the thing is…"

"Of course he was." Brooke cut in animatedly. "I mean you should have seen the guy Haley. He has it bad for you. He was always worrying about whether you felt the same way or not, and what he would do if you didn't. And then when you started seeing Trevor. I mean you should of seen him. It was almost pathetic. He was-"

"Okay Brooke." Nathan cut in hurriedly. "I think that's enough. She gets the point."

"I don't know." Haley smiled slyly. "Maybe I should here more."

"Really?" Brooke smiled back. "Because I've got some killer stories about you crushing on Nathan as well."

"Okay, maybe not." Haley rushed out, looking flustered. "Maybe we should just…talk about something else."

"Oh no." Nathan cut in. "I want to hear this."

"You know Nathan." Haley looked up at him innocently. "I really don't think you do. Maybe we should just-"

"Nice try Hales." Nathan smiled down at her before turning back to Brooke. "Go on."

The group took their seats again, with Nathan and Haley added to the bunch, as Brooke started her story. Haley groaned as she heard Nathan chuckle beside her at something Brooke was saying. She was trying her best not to listen, it would only make her more mortified than she already was...if possible.

"Are you sure you don't want to do something else?" She tried.

"Positive." Nathan smiled down at her as Brooke continued her story animatedly. Haley groaned again and put her head in her hands.

"Besides," Nathan whispered in her ear as everyone started to laugh at something Brooke was saying. "I think it's cute."

"You do?" Haley looked up at him hopefully.

"Adorable." He nodded. "I've been hoping that you might feel the same way for so long…thinking it was impossible. You have no idea how good it feels to know that you do."

"I do." Haley confirmed as she leaned up and placed a soft kiss on his lips.

Nathan sighed in contentment as they broke apart and pulled Haley closer to his side. She smiled up at him and rested her head on his shoulder as Brooke continued to talk, completely oblivious to the exchange between the two. She smiled to herself, everything was perfect, she didn't know what was to come but at this point, she didn't care. All she wanted to do was live in the moment, here with Nathan. And that's exactly what she would do.

* * *

**I thought a nice fluffy chapter would be befitting for this time of year. I hope you enjoyed it and please leave a review and let me know what you think. I always love to hear from you guys!**


	17. Not Ready

**Author's Note: Hey everyone. I know how horrible I am for taking so long with this update and trust me, I feel terrible. I'm a little bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my chapters but I've decided that's not fair to keep you guys waiting any longer so I hope that you guys like this chapter. I think it's the longest chapter I've written so far, hopefully that will partially make up for how long it's taken me to get this out there. Things have been really crazy recently but I'm hoping that now that it's summer I will have some more free time to update more often. Anyways, I'm really sorry about the wait and I really hope that this chapter meets the standard. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Nathan." Haley admonished playfully as she leaned in closer to the television. "Cut it out, I'm trying to watch the movie."

Nathan groaned. "Hales, come on. Why would you want to watch a movie when we could do much better things with our time." Nathan leaned in again to kiss her neck. He was currently sitting on the couch with her sitting between his legs. She was watching some sappy romantic comedy on television and quite frankly, Nathan didn't see what the big deal was, he would much rather make out.

"Because Nathan," Haley turned to him. "We agreed that we wouldn't. Trevor wanted maximum passion on set and that's what we're going to give him, and that means, no kissing until this afternoon."

"But that's _too long_." Nathan complained with a pout. "I want to kiss you _now._"

Haley gave a small giggle at her boyfriend's behaviour. "Nathan that's in two hours."

"But it's been two _days__._" Nathan complained. "C'mon Haley. It's not like Trevor's going to know."

"Nathan this our job and we promised that we wouldn't." Haley tried to convince Nathan, and herself, as Nathan started to place open mouthed kisses along her neck. To be honest this whole 'no kissing' thing was as hard for her as it was for Nathan, and it didn't help that he was constantly trying to kiss her. Truth be told, she had no idea what was movie was playing. She was just watching it to keep herself distracted. There was no way she was breaking her promise.

Nathan saw the determined look on Haley's face and groaned. "Now I see why Brooke calls you Tutorgirl." Nathan muttered. "I mean have you _ever_ broken a rule."

"Hey!" Haley protested. "And for your information, yes I have." Her voice dropped down to a whisper. "Once in second grade, I stole some candy."

Nathan eyed her curiously. "Like from a store?"

Haley looked at him seriously. "No, from my house."

Nathan looked at her and laughed. "You've got to be kidding me. _That's_ you're 'breaking the rules'?"

"Hey!" Haley exclaimed indignantly as she swatted his arm. This only made him laugh harder.

"And would that qualify as assault in your books then?" Nathan teased. "I mean, you might have to go turn yourself into the police you rebel."

Haley feigned offence for a moment before her expression turned serious. "Well there was this one time in senior year…"

Nathan turned to her surprised before waiting for her to continue.

"Brooke had designed some clothes for a local store and they refused to credit her for her work." Haley cheeks were turning red just thinking about the incident. "She asked me to drive her to the mall and I could tell that she was up to something but I brushed it aside and drove her anyways. She asked me to wait in the car and to leave the passenger side door open. The next thing I knew she came running out of the mall with a bag full of clothes and told me to drive. We got pulled over just outside the mall and had to spend the night in jail. It wasn't until later that night that Lucas came and bailed us out." Haley looked down at her hands as she talked. She couldn't believe she was actually admitting that. She had made Brooke and Lucas swear to never speak of the incident again.

"Really?" Nathan laughed disbelievingly. "That's hilarious." A mischievous smile came across his face. "Haley James in jail." He mused. "I would pay to see that."

Haley crossed her arms across her chest and pouted as she leaned back against him.

"Aww baby." Nathan wrapped his arms around her from behind. "I think it's cute. Besides," He leaned in to whisper huskily in her ear, "I'm sure you looked sexy as hell in an orange jumpsuit."

Haley's lips curved up in the corners as she fought to preserve her pouting countenance.

"Come on Hales." Nathan's muttered huskily as his breath tickled her neck. "I know you can't resist me."

"I- I can resist you just fine." Haley tried to reply as best she could. She could hear the breathiness of her own voice and inwardly chastised herself.

Nathan chuckled. "I can tell."

"I can." Haley said with a little more confidence as she moved off his lap and turned to face him. She smirked as she heard him groan at the loss of contact.

"Hales." He whined. "Come back."

"Nope." She shook her head. "I'm going to prove my point."

"That you can resist me?" Nathan smirked as he reached out for her, groaning once again as she moved just out of his reach. "But baby, you know you can't. You probably couldn't go a week without kissing me."

"Oh yeah." Haley raised her eyebrows. Her smile was playful and her eyes challenging. "I will."

"You will what?" Nathan asked her.

"I'll go a week without kissing you."

"Wait. What?" Nathan looked at her bewildered. That was definitely not what he had wanted to happen.

"I'll go a week without kissing you." Haley repeated, laughing a little at the bewildered expression on Nathan's face. Even as she said it she knew she was bluffing, there was no way she would last a whole week without kissing Nathan.

"Well…I mean…there's no need to…you don't need to…prove anything." Nathan stuttered as he walked up to her, his eyes pleading.

"Really?" Haley asked seductively as she sauntered closer to him.

"Really…" Nathan replied huskily as he leaned down to kiss her lips. He closed his eyes and felt his heart rate speed up as he felt her breath on his face. His lips tingled in anticipation, he had been waiting two days for this moment…

And then it was gone. Nathan's eyes snapped open to find Haley standing a foot away.

Nathan groaned. "Haley…"

"Nathan, you know we can't. We promised Trevor we wouldn't and we have to keep our promise."

"Screw Trevor. He's not the one who has to go two days without kissing you." Nathan grumbled irritably.

"Nathan." Haley laughed. "It's really not that bad, it's only two days."

Nathan looked at her sceptically. "So you don't mind this at all? It doesn't bother you at all that you can't kiss me for two whole days?"

"No, not really." Haley tried to play it off. There was no way she could show Nathan how much this was affecting her. If he knew she was suffering as much as he was than he would become even more persistent, and she was having a hard enough time resisting him as it was.

"Not really?" Nathan asked as he took a step closer to her, his eyes darkening as they zeroed in on her lips.

"Not really." Haley repeated less confidently as she took a step back.

"I don't know Hales, it certainly looks like it's bothering you." Nathan took another step forward.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Haley replied with a slightly shaky voice as she took another step back.

"Oh really?" Nathan raised his eyebrows. "So it won't bother you if I do this…" Nathan took a step forward and reached out for her.

Haley tried to take another step back but her back hit the wall. Nathan's arms wrapped around her at that moment as his lips found their way to her neck.

"Nathan." Haley said, trying to sound as composed as possible. "Would you mind…not doing that." She could clearly hear the breathlessness of her own voice.

"Well, since it doesn't bother you…" Nathan mumbled against her neck.

"Okay…so maybe it bothers me a little." Haley panted.

"Just a little?" Nathan asked as he ran his tongue over the sensitive spot on her neck.

Haley moaned. "Or a lot." She got out.

She could feel Nathan smirking against her neck. "That's what I thought." He replied smugly.

"You know what I think?" Haley started as she loosened Nathan's arms from around her waist and stepped around him. "I think that maybe we should just hang out in separate rooms. You know, for the next two hours."

"Or…" Nathan started, a mischievous smile playing on his lips. "We could just make out for the next two hours…" Nathan's voice turned husky as he leaned into her.

"But what about Trevor?" Haley asked, trying her best to remain in control of herself.

"Trevor doesn't have to know." Nathan's lips were just inches from hers. Haley closed her eyes in anticipation. Nathan was near impossible to resist. Would it really be so bad to kiss him just this once? Besides…his lips were so close she could almost taste them. All she wanted to do was close the distance between them and finally get what she had wanted for the past two days.

But she couldn't. She had made a promise and she wasn't going to back out now. Haley quickly took a step back and watched as Nathan's eyes snapped open when his lips met with nothing but air. He groaned and looked up at her, eyes pleading.

"Nathan, you know we can't. We made a promise and we're going to keep it."

"Haley-" Nathan started to protest.

"No." Haley replied adamantly. "I'm going to go now so you don't pull any more…stunts." She narrowed her eyes at him as she said the word. "But I'll meet you at the set in two hours okay?"

Nathan was about to tell her that it was not okay but she was already gathering her stuff and making her way towards the door.

"Haley-" He started again, hoping that he could somehow convince her to stay.

"No Nathan." Haley replied adamantly. "I'll see you in two hours…and then we can do all the kissing you want." She added with a flirty smile. Then she was out the door.

Nathan looked after her for a second before plopping down on the couch.

"Damn Trevor." He muttered under his breath.

As if the guy hadn't caused enough trouble as it was, he was now preventing Nathan from being able to kiss his girlfriend. It had only been three days since Nathan had confessed his feelings for Haley, since she had finally become his. He smiled at the memory of them kissing in the rain on Monday night, and their breakfast together on Tuesday morning as they finally told their friends they were together. His smile then turned into a frown as he remembered how Haley had insisted they call Trevor to let him know that Nathan was okay. He had tried to protest against it, Trevor still wasn't his favourite guy, but Haley had gone on about how worried Trevor had been about him the night before with the storm, and about how he deserved to know that everything was okay. Had he known what was about to become of that phone call he would have taken the phone away from her that instant.

After Haley had told Trevor that both of them were fine, she had gone on to tell him that they were now dating. Trevor of course, had then come up with this "brilliant plan" that the two wouldn't kiss until they re-filmed the scene at the docks which, due to the storm, was being postponed until Thursday.

Nathan's fists clenched just thinking about it. Two hours from now, Trevor was dead.

~*23*~

"Nathan!" Trevor exclaimed as Nathan made his way down to the docks. "You're late. And why is your hair wet?"

"I'm sorry. I had to have a cold shower…my third one today." Nathan gritted out as he glared at Trevor.

"It was two days Nathan." Trevor rolled his eyes. "I'm sure you'll survive." He then turned towards the crew. "Can someone get a hair dryer over here?"

A short balding man ran over to Nathan and ushered him towards a white and blue trailer.

"Please try not to be late again!" Trevor yelled after them.

Nathan grumbled under his breath. He hated that guy. After waiting for _so_ long he had finally gotten to be with Haley, something he had never thought would be possible, and then not even twelve hours later, Trevor made sure he couldn't kiss her. "Asshole." He muttered.

"Excuse me?" Asked the man drying his hair in a thick Italian accent.

"Nothing." Nathan muttered.

"It sounded like you called me an asshole." The man said, sounded annoyed.

"Not you." Nathan muttered. "Trevor."

"Oh." The man chucked. "Yes, I heard about his little stunt, not letting you kiss your girlfriend. And after you two just got together, that must be rough."

"Yeah, we just got together three freakin' days ago and not even twelve hours later Trevor cons her into his bullshit plan." Nathan grumbled. At least someone understood.

"I heard all about that. And you had been waiting for so long, been so hung up on her, and you finally get her, and boom, you can't even kiss her."

"Wait." Nathan turned around in his chair as the man shut his blow dryer off. "Where did you here all of this?"

"Oh everyone knows all about you two. That girl has been talking about it for the past month and a half. In fact, we could probably make the movie about the two of you if we wanted to."

"That girl?" Nathan asked. "What girl?"

"Oh, what's her name?" The man snapped his fingers a couple of times. "Brooke…Brooke something…"

"Brooke Davis?" Nathan asked angrily.

"Yes, yes that's it." The man smiled. "Very beautiful young lady, she's got quite a mouth on her though."

"Yes, yes she does." Nathan replied angrily as he stood up. "Excuse me…" He looked to the man for his name.

"Antonio." The man supplied.

"Antonio." Nathan nodded. "I just have to go talk to someone."

"It wouldn't happen to be that beautiful Brooke Davis would it?" Antonio asked.

"Actually it would." Nathan replied as he headed out the door.

"Well, please don't mention my name!" Antonio yelled after him. "That lady can be scary when she's angry!"

~*23*~

"Brooke!" Nathan yelled as he spotted her partway down beach, running towards her.

Brooke turned away from the group of crew members and gave Nathan a cheeky smile. "Well, speak of the devil."

"Brooke, what have you been telling people?" Nathan demanded as he reached her.

"About what Hotshot?" She asked.

"About me and Haley!" He exclaimed.

"Haley and I." She corrected before pausing, her eyes going wide. "Oh my gosh!" She squealed in horror. "I'm turning into Tutorgirl!"

"Brooke!" Nathan growled.

"One second." Brooke turned away from him. "I'm having a crisis here."

"Brooke if you don't give me an explanation _now_ your problems are going to be a lot bigger than your IQ." Nathan was becoming more annoyed by the second.

"Okay, okay." Brooke turned to him. "No need to turn into such a grouch. I haven't seen you this pissy since Haley was dating Trevor."

Nathan gave her a pointed look...she was really starting to test his temper.

"So what were you upset about?" She looked up at him.

"I heard you've been telling people about Haley and I." Nathan tried to keep his voice calm and rational. He loved Brooke, he really did, but he didn't know how Lucas could put up with her 24/7.

"And so…" Brooke trailed off, looking at him questioningly.

"And so?" Nathan asked in disbelief. "Brooke why would you tell people?"

"Why wouldn't I Nathan?" Brooke gushed. "It's so cute! It's the most adorable story ever. Who wouldn't want to hear it? It's like it was straight our of a movie!"

"Brooke." Nathan's tone softened as he pulled her away from the crew workers who were listening intently to their conversation. "I don't want people knowing about us."

"Why?" Brooke asked. "I mean, if that was how Lucas and I got together, I would tell the whole world-" She cut herself short as her eyes widened and she seemed to be considering something. Nathan watched as her face suddenly became menacing. "You're not embarrassed to be with her are you? Because I'll be damned if you are! She is the best thing that ever happened to you. She is smart and talented and beautiful and probably the most sought after woman in America and if after all this time pining after her you're ashamed to be with her then you have got another thing coming mister! She may not have the same reputation that most of your bimbos did but that's because she's actually worth-"

"Brooke! What on earth are you talking about?" Nathan exclaimed once he had finally recovered from the suddenness of Brookes attack and let her words sink in. "Are you kidding me? I'm not ashamed to be with Haley. Quite the opposite actually. She's way to good for me."

"Damn straight mister." Brooke said, looking like she was going to dive back into her tangent before Nathan's words suddenly registered. "Wait. What?"

"Brooke, I'm not ashamed to be with Haley." Nathan repeated.

"Then why don't you want people to know?" Brooke asked.

"Because," Nathan looked down at her, "Haley's different, she's special. She's not like all the other girls I've dated. All of my other relationships, if you could call them that, were for the publicity. I don't want my relationship with Haley to be just another piece of gossip for the press. It means too much to me...she means too much to me. I want to keep our relationship private because it's special, not because I'm ashamed of it."

Brooke sniffled. "Aww Nathan. That's the sweetest thing I've ever heard." Then her tone turned whiny. "And now I can't even tell anyone!"

Nathan chuckled. "You better not…or you're dead Davis."

"Love you too Scott." Brooke teased. "But I'm sorry about before, I really didn't mean to tell people and make you uncomfortable. I just thought it was adorable, I didn't know you felt that way about it."

"It's fine." Nathan chuckled again. "You were just being Brooke."

Brooke swatted him in the arm. "Yeah whatever Hotshot."

"Can you stop calling me that?" Nathan asked her.

"Yeah, I guess." Brooke shrugged. "I mean, the name's getting kind of old anyways. It suited you better when you and Haley were lusting after each other."

Nathan was so relieved at the thought of Brooke finally retiring his old nickname that he decided to ignore the last part of Brooke's statement. His relief however, soon turned to dread as Brooke continued.

"Besides," She said with a cheeky grin, "Now that you and Haley are actually together you need a more fitting name. You know…like BoyToy."

"You know what?" Nathan decided. "I think I liked Hotshot better. I think we should just stick with that."

"No," Brooke decided. "Boytoy is definitely more fitting." Brooke nodded her head before trying it out. "Haley's little BoyToy. I like it."

Nathan shook his head. "You know Haley's going to kill you right?"

"Meh." Brooke shrugged. "I'll deal with her later."

Nathan shrugged. "Your funeral."

"Speaking of Haley…" Brooke started, completely ignoring Nathan's comment. "How's that 'no kissing' deal coming along."

"Ugh." Nathan groaned. "Pure torture."

"Yeah, Haley told me about it." Brooke smirked. "Seems like you haven't been making it easy on her."

"What?" Nathan asked. "Do you expect I'm just going to sit there quietly while Haley goes on with this hideous plan?"

"Well, we all know you don't sit there_ quietly_…" Brooke muttered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nathan asked.

"It's all I've heard about from Lucas over the past two days. He'll really be glad when this whole thing is over with. And I will too, I mean all I hear from him is how tired he is of all your complaining and your grouchy moods."

"Can you blame me?" Nathan retorted. "I mean, how would you feel if you weren't able to kiss Lucas right after you two started dating."

Brooke seemed to consider that for moment. "Yeah, I guess your right. But then, if that were the case, when the time came that I was finally able to kiss him, which for you would be _now_, I wouldn't be standing her talking to me."

Nathan looked at her confused for a moment. "Wha-?" Suddenly his eyes widened as her heard Trevor calling for him. "Holy shit, you're right! It's time for the scene! Brooke I'll talk to you later." Nathan was already running down the stretch of beach towards the docks. "Right now, I've got to go make out with my girlfriend."

Brooke couldn't hep laughing at the obvious satisfaction in his voice as he said those words. "You go get her BoyToy." She said laughing as he ran up the beach.

~*23*~

"Nathan!" Trevor admonished as he reached him. "First you show up late, then you just run off to talk to your friends, we don't have time for your little games, we've got a movie to film here."

"Trevor," Nathan took an angry step forward. "I don't know what you said to Haley to con her into this little 'no kissing' thing of yours but once this is done, you are a dead man."

Trevor chuckled under his breath. "Oh, I see what this is about. Don't worry Nathan, I'm not trying to take your girl. We all know you don't deserve her but I'm not going to steal her away from you."

Nathan whirled on Trevor at that. "You-"

"Nathan!" Haley ran up the beach to where Nathan was standing, looking like he was about to punch Trevor in the face. "What's going on?"

Trevor looked at Nathan smugly, challenging him. Nathan glared back before turning to Haley. "Nothing." He replied tersely.

Haley gave him a questioning look before turning to look at Trevor, who was gloating.

"Well." Said Trevor, clapping his hands together. "Shall we get started?"

Haley looked at them both warily for another second before making her way down to the strip of beach where they were planning to film the scene. She took a seat in the sand and waited for Nathan to join her.

As Nathan made his way towards her she saw Trevor whisper something in Nathan's ear and saw Nathan's jaw clench as he made his way over to her.

"Nathan." Haley asked softly he sat down beside her. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing." Nathan sighed.

Haley looked at him worriedly. "Are you sure?"

Nathan nodded his head before turning to Trevor. "We're ready." He called. He tried to sound as casual as he could. Haley however, could hear the clipped tone of his voice and knew something was up. But before she could dwell on it further, Trevor's voice cut in.

"And…action!"

And then all other thoughts flew out of her head as Nathan turned towards her, his dark eyes boring into hers.

"Are we trying to get killed?" Haley asked as she turned towards Nathan, slurring her words slightly.

"I told you, my dad's in Charlotte. It's okay." Nathan slurred back with a lazy smile. "I've never seen you like this." He turned and poured some alcohol into the plastic cup in her hands.

Haley smiled up at him. "Now you have." She replied before leaning up to capture his lips with hers.

Nathan had to suppress a moan as their lips collided. He had been waiting for this moment for so damn long. His arms ached to wrap around her and pull her closer to him but he knew he couldn't do that. He could taste the strawberry lips gloss she was wearing and he sighed softly into her mouth as he felt her arms wrap around his neck. He knew he had to pull away soon but he didn't want to. He could almost hear Trevor in the background clearing his throat and could picture him waving his arms frantically. He kissed Haley for a few most seconds, savouring the moment, before pulling away.

The two repeated the rest of their lines easily before finishing up the scene. The second they were done Nathan pulled Haley to him and ravaged her lips. He could hear Trevor yelling in the background and the crew packing up the equipment but he didn't care. He had been waiting for so long to finally be able to kiss his girlfriend and Trevor wasn't going to ruin this moment for him.

Nathan groaned as he felt Haley's tongue trace his lips, beginning for entrance, but before anything else could happen she was gone. Trevor had turned her around to look at him.

"Haley, I just wanted to tell you great job and that we'll be shooting the next scene on Monday." Although Trevor was talking to Haley his challenging gaze kept flickering over to Nathan.

"Thank you Trevor." Haley remained polite but curt. Even she was disgruntled that he had interrupted their kiss.

Trevor looked like he wanted to add something else but at that moment Nathan stepped forward and turned towards Haley.

"You want to come over?" He asked her huskily looking down at her, ignoring Trevor completely.

Haley looked up at his expression and a deep red blush covered her cheeks. "Sure." She smiled up at him shyly.

Before Trevor could say anything else Nathan grabbed Haley's hand and started pulling her eagerly toward his car. "We'll pick your car up later." Nathan said determinedly, keeping a fast and steady pace.

"Nathan." Haley laughed as she trailed behind him, her hand intertwined with his. "Wouldn't it make more sense for me to just drive to your house?" Nathan didn't answer. "Nathan?"

They had just reached the car and before Haley could say anything else Nathan turned to her and collided his lips with hers in a fiery kiss. "Haley." Nathan mumbled against her lips. "I don't care what makes the most sense. I have been waiting too damn long for this." And then his lips were gone from hers and he was opening the door for her before hurrying over to the drivers side and jumping in.

Haley laughed at his enthusiasm as he hurriedly pulled out of the parking lot and sped off down the road. "Nathan." She said, trying not to let her amusement show in her voice. "You're over the speed limit."

Nathan turned to her briefly and she saw his eyes darken before he sped up even more. "Nathan!" Haley laughed. "Geez, remind me never to withhold my lips from you again." She joked.

"_Never_ withold your lips from me again." Nathan repeated, his tone both dead serious and husky with desire.

He quickly pulled up to the house and parked the car in the driveway. He jumped out of the car as Haley did the same and they both hurried towards the front door and into the house.

The second the front door had shut behind them Nathan had Haley pinned up against it and had captured her lips in a steamy kiss. His hands fluttered from her back to her hips to her hair, wanting to be everywhere at once.

Haley couldn't get enough of him either. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself as close to him as she could manage. Nathan's hands moved slowly down to her thighs before swiftly pulling her up into his arms.

Haley let out a little squeak of surprise which soon turned into a moan as Nathan's tongue teased hers, her legs wrapping tightly around his waist. He carried them into his living room and gently set her down on the couch before moving to lie above her. His mouth made it's way down her neck, nipping and sucking, while his hands rested on the little patch of exposed skin where her shirt met her jeans.

Haley was completely lost in Nathan. Just like with their previous kisses, he completely clouded her mind and took over all of her senses. She almost didn't notice when his hands started to make their way up her stomach under her shirt. She chose to ignore it, they were both a little caught up in the moment.

Then she felt his hands move a little higher, they seemed to be inching towards her chest. "Nathan." Haley mumbled against his lips.

"Yeah baby?" Nathan asked as his hands inched higher, completely caught up in the moment.

"Nathan stop." Haley mumbled.

"Stop what?" Nathan asked distractedly, his hands still moving upwards.

"Nathan." Haley said firmly as she climbed out from under him and stood up, pulling her t-shirt down in the process. "Stop."

Nathan just looked up at her, confused. "Haley? What's wrong?"

Haley looked at him like she wanted to say something. Her mouth opening and closing a few times, as her eyes started to tear up a little.

"Haley?" Nathan got up off of the couch and took a step towards her, nothing but concern shining in his blue orbs.

"I think I should go." Haley as she started to make her way around him.

"No, Haley wait…" Nathan moved towards her once again.

"I'm sorry Nathan. I have to go." Haley quickly rushed around him and out the door.

Nathan looked after her confused for a moment before snapping back.

"Haley!" Nathan ran towards the door, opening it in one swift movement. "Haley!"

But she was already driving off down the road. He wasn't even sure how, but once again he had managed to screw up. Maybe Trevor had been right, maybe he really didn't deserve her.

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**How did you guys like it? Please let me know what you think, good or bad, I apprieciate all feedback and I always reply to all my reviews so I would really love to hear something from you :)**


	18. Amazing

**Author's Note: Hey guys, I just wanted to say thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, I loved reading each and every one of them. I had to re-write this chapter a couple of times because I changed some things in the plot line but hopefully you guys enjoy it. And...well let me know what you think. Reviews are much apprieciated. **

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"_Hi, you've reached Haley James, sorry I'm not able to answer the phone right now but leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can!"_ Nathan sighed in frustration as he snapped his phone shut. He had been trying to call her for the past two days with no success. He didn't know what he had been thinking the other day; the truth was, he hadn't been thinking at all. He hadn't even registered that she was telling him to stop, he had been so caught up in her that he had forgotten about everything else. He didn't mean to push her, he would never want to pressure her into something she wasn't ready for. If only she would let him explain it to her, if she would just pick up her damn phone.

He sighed once again as he flipped open his phone one more time, this time dialing a different number.

~*23*~

"Hey man, what's up? What did you want to talk about?" Lucas asked as he stepped onto the River Court where Nathan was currently taking shots from the top of the key. He watched as the ball left Nathan's hands and sailed through the air before hitting the backboard and bouncing off into the bushes at the side of the court. Nathan let out a frustrated groan before making his way to the bleachers.

"Woah…" Lucas said as he followed Nathan to the bleachers and took a seat beside him, though his eyes never left the basket. "Did you just miss that shot? I don't think I've ever seen you miss a shot before, especially from the top of the key, and with no defenders or anything…" He trailed off in amazement before turning to look at Nathan. "What's _wrong_?"

"It's Haley." Nathan took a deep breath before continuing. "I messed up…bad."

Lucas took in Nathan's expression and his own turned suspicious. His next words were slow and deliberate. "What did you do?"

"Well…you remember Trevor's deal right?" Nathan asked nervously. "The one where Haley and I couldn't kiss until we shot that scene at the docks?"

Nathan watched as Lucas nodded his head in affirmation before continuing. "Well after we wrapped up Haley and I decided to go back to her place to, you know…make out a little."

Lucas made a face at that. "I _so_ did not need that image in my head."

Nathan wrung his hands. "Yeah…well it gets worse."

Lucas' head shot up at that and his face suddenly became threatening. He spoke slowly, each word hanging in the air. "How…much…worse?"

"Well…" Nathan paused, maybe this wasn't the best idea. Haley was Lucas' best friend and he knew that Lucas was fiercely protective of her.

"_How…much…worse?"_ Lucas repeated.

"Well, I mean, we went into her living room and we were making out on the couch." Nathan ignored the grimace Lucas shot his way. "And I guess I got really into it and I kind of, well, I kind of started unbuttoning her shirt. I think Haley was telling me to stop but I was really into it and her words didn't really register and then before I knew it she was up and out the door. I've tried calling her but she won't pick up and I don't know what to do. What should I do man?"

Nathan looked up to see Lucas' expression and what he saw made him jump up off of the bench. "Look, Luke…"

"You…" Lucas gritted out. "Haley…you…" He looked furious beyond words.

"Luke I didn't mean to pressure her, I swear! I just wasn't thinking! I would never intentionally hurt her. I swear." Nathan looked down at Lucas and waited for him to calm down and to realize that he was telling the truth.

Lucas looked up at him for a moment, taking a few deep breaths, before looking back down and letting out a frustrated sigh. "Look, I know. I know that you wouldn't hurt her. It's just that…Nathan, you have this reputation with women. And you have to understand that Haley's not like that. Sex is a big deal to her."

"I know Luke!" Nathan exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. "I know she's different! And I know I have a reputation but things are different with Haley. _I'm_ different with Haley, and I know that you guys still don't trust me with her but I'm not going to break her heart. I really care about her Luke."

"Well then you need to tell her that Nathan. She needs to know that she's not just one of your whores."

"I've tried!" Nathan exclaimed. "I've been calling her for the past two days but she won't answer her damn phone."

"Then go see her! You should have this conversation face-to-face anyways, not over the phone."

"I thought that maybe she needed some space, you know, from me." Nathan looked down.

Lucas shook his head. "That's not what she needs, she needs reassurance. She's just scared. When we were in high school…" Lucas trailed off, not knowing if he should continue.

"What?" Nathan asked . "What is it?"

Lucas shook his head. It wasn't his place. "Look…just…go talk to Haley okay? She really cares about you and she just needs to know that this is more than just some fling."

Nathan nodded and smiled at Lucas. "Thanks man."

"No problem." Lucas smirked. "Now go get your girl."

~*23*~

Haley sighed as she placed a bookmark in her book and placed it back on the living room table. She had been reading the same line for the past half hour. This was so unlike her, she could always get lost in a book, especially _Wuthering Heights_, it was just so easy to get lost in the angst and romance that made up Cathy and Heathcliff's relationship. But not today. For the first time the pages couldn't pull her in the way they usually could. Maybe it had something to do with the thirty-something messages from Nathan on her cell phone. He hadn't stopped calling these past few days and she had been too afraid to answer. She knew she was being childish; it wasn't that she didn't want to talk to him, she was just scared of what might come of their conversation. She really cared about Nathan, more than she'd ever thought she could, and she couldn't bear the thought that he was using her for sex. As immature as it was, she felt better being left in the dark than finding out the truth. But still, she couldn't hide from him forever, they would have to talk sometime. _It may as well be now._ Haley sighed as she reached for her phone. She had barely flipped it open when she heard a knock at the door.

"Coming!" She called as she tossed the phone onto the couch and headed for the door, her eyes widening when she saw who was on the other side. "Nathan…" She breathed.

"Hey." His voice was hoarse. "Can we talk?"

Haley bit her lip and nodded nervously before pulling the door the rest of the way open and stepping aside so he could enter.

He stepped inside and she could feel his eyes on her as she shut the door behind him. She avoided his gaze as she headed into the living room, waiting to make sure he had followed her before placing her phone on the table and taking a seat on the couch. "I was just about to call you." She mumbled.

Nathan sat beside her and turned to face her, he sat there for a moment in silence before reaching his hand out and placing it gently under her chin, turning her face towards him. "Haley," he paused to search her eyes, and to make sure that she could see the sincerity in his own, "I am _so_ sorry. I didn't mean to pressure you, I swear to you, I was just so caught up in the mo-"

"What are we Nathan?" Haley blurted out before he could finish.

He looked at her confused for a moment.

"This thing between us." Haley elaborated. "I mean, what are we…to you. Are we a couple? Are we just hanging out? Is it for sex? Because if it is…" Haley closed her eyes. "I can't be that Nathan, I won't be that. That's not enough for me."

"Haley, are you serious?" Nathan jumped up from the couch, he actually looked kind of angry. "Do you seriously believe that all this," he motioned around him, "us, is for sex? Do you honestly believe that I would use you like that?"

"Look, Nathan," Haley started nervously, "I just, it's just…you have this reputation with women. I know that, and I get that, and I know you're used to girls giving it up to you all the time and I just- I'm not one of those girls Nathan."

Nathan shook his head as he sat down beside her, his frustration evident. "Don't you think I know that Haley? Why don't you get it? Why do none of you get it?" Haley looked up at Nathan's raised voice. "All I hear about is my reputation, it's like everyone expects me to somehow screw this up. Haley don't you understand? My old reputation and my old habits don't mean anything anymore because I'm not that guy anymore, and it's all because of you." Nathan smiled softly at her. "Haley, I don't want you to be like the other girls I dated, I don't know why you feel like you have to compete with them or something. There's not competition. I want you _because_ you're different, and I'm sorry if I made you feel otherwise. Haley I promise, it's not about sex with me okay? When you're ready, I will be too."

"Thank you." Haley smiled at him before leaning forward and capturing his lips in a sweet kiss. Nathan wrapped his arms around her and pulled her onto his lap. They kissed for a few more minutes before Haley pulled away. "And it's not that I don't trust you Nathan, I do. And I don't for a second believe you're going to screw anything up. It's just that…" She trailed off, seeming lost in a memory.

Nathan's mind suddenly flashed back to the River Court, remembering what Lucas had been about to tell him. "Haley, did something happen? When you were in high school?"

Haley's head snapped up at that as she moved off his lap and sat a foot away from him on the couch. "How do you know about that?"

"I- I don't know anything. Lucas and I were talking at the River Court this morning and he started to say something about you, something that had happened when you guys were in high school, but then he just brushed it off and told me to come talk to you."

Haley looked up at him nervously for a second before looking down at her hands. "Well, yeah… it's not really a big deal or anything, it's just that, well…" She took a deep breath. "When I was in high school there was this guy, Felix. He kind of had the same reputation that you did, he ruled our high school and could get any girl he wanted, and for some reason, he chose me. He seemed perfect at the time, everything I could ever ask for, and I thought that I was in love with him. Lucas kept warning me about him, he didn't trust the guy, but I didn't listen. After a while, Felix started to want to…do stuff. Stuff that I wasn't ready to do. I had always wanted to wait until I was married, you know?" Haley looked up into his eyes and could see his concern shining back at her.

"Hey, it's okay." He brushed his hand along her cheek and she placed her hand on top of his, intertwining their fingers before placing both their hands down on her lap, playing with his fingers as she continued.

"Anyways, Lucas thought it was a bad idea, but I thought… I thought I was in love and I was willing to do anything for Felix. He knew I wanted to wait, and at first he seemed okay with it, but after a while he started to get frustrated. It got to the point where almost every time we were together he was angry with me. Eventually I decided that it wasn't worth it, I wanted to make him happy and so I decided to give him what he wanted. I went over to his house, using the spare key to get in, and went up to his room. I undressed so I was in nothing but my underwear and I just sat on his bed waiting for him like some idiot…" She shook her head self-deprecatingly, "I don't even know what I was thinking…" Nathan gave her hand a soft squeeze and she looked up at him, giving him a sad smile before taking a deep breath. "When he finally came home it was with this girl from our cheerleading squad, Theresa. I guess they came up to his room to…you know." Her cheeks flushed. "Of course when he saw me there he tried to make some lame excuse about how she was locked out of her house or something like that. By that point I had already grabbed all of my clothes so I just ran out of there and went straight to Lucas' house. Brooke later found out that he had been sleeping with practically every girl in school behind my back."

Nathan reached his arms out and pulled Haley onto his lap once again, rubbing his hand in soothing circles on her back. "I'm sorry Hales. That guy's a fucking idiot."

Haley wrapped her arms around his torso. "Thank you." She had never told anyone this before. They only people who knew were Lucas and Brooke, and they were sworn to secrecy. "But it wasn't what he had done that upset me, that scared me. It had been what I had done. I had gotten so caught up in him that I had lost myself, I was willing to give up my values just to please him. I mean, imagine if he hadn't had Theresa with him that day? Imagine if I had gone through with it?" Haley could hear the fear in her own voice.

"Shh…" Nathan placed a kiss on her forehead. "It's okay Hales."

Haley gave a small smile as she tucked her head under his chin and his hands moved to stroke her hair. "You're amazing, you know that?" She asked him.

He smiled at her words. "You made me this way."

She placed a kiss on his neck. "I'm sorry I didn't answer my phone, I know I was being childish. I was just scared. I was scared that you wanted a sexual relationship, and that maybe you wouldn't be okay if I couldn't give it to you. And I care way too much about you to lose you Nathan, but you have to understand, I can't lose myself again. I still want to wait…until marriage." Her words hung in the silence as she waited nervously for his reaction.

But Nathan just chuckled. "Well that's good because I plan on marrying you anyways."

Haley laughed at that. "Depends on if I say yes." She teased.

"Oh you will." Nathan smirked. "I can be _very_ persuasive."

"Oh yeah." Haley pulled out of his embrace slightly to give him a teasing smile.

"Yeah." Nathan replied huskily as he leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers. Once. Twice. Haley couldn't take it anymore as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, crushing her lips against his.

They kissed for a few minutes before things started to become a little too heated and Haley pulled away. She looked at Nathan nervously, anticipating his reaction. But he just smiled at her in understanding before reaching for the remote. "Let's watch some T. V."

Haley gave him a grateful smile and nodded as he turned the television on and hit the button for the guide. "What do you want to watch?" He asked as he leaned back against the couch, his arms pulling her with him.

Haley looked to the guide and a huge smile spread across her face when she saw the name of one of her all-time favourite movies appear on the screen. "Ohhh! Casablanca's on!" She said excitedly.

Nathan chuckled before changing the channel to Casablanca. "You would want to watch a chick flick."

"Nathan, we don't have to watch this if you don't want to. Really. Let's watch something that we both like." She reached for the remote but Nathan placed it down on the coffee table before she could grab it.

"I want to watch what you want to watch." He smiled at her.

"Are you sure?" She asked him skeptically.

Nathan grinned. "I'm sure."

"Yay!" Haley squealed. "I love this movie!"

Nathan chuckled at that and squeezed her tighter against him before turning his attention to the screen. "So what's this movie about?"

But Haley could barely hear his words. All she could do in that moment was sit there in his embrace and stare up at his face. He was absolutely perfect in everything he did. In the way he comforted her when she was upset, always knowing what to say. In the way he sat by and watched romance movies with her without a single complaint. In the way he made her feel so alive and so special when she was with him. And the way he had made her fall in love with him. Because sitting there, in his embrace, she realized that she had. She had fallen in love with Nathan Scott.


	19. Crazier

**Author's Note: Hey guys, I really hope you like this chapter. I had a lot of trouble with it at first but I think I've finally gotten it to where I want it to be. I also want to thank chriswiss23 for her amazing advice on this chapter. You were a huge help, thank you. And thanks to all you reviewers out there, I loved reading what you guys wrote! Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter and please let me know what you think!**

* * *

"Hey, it's me." Haley took a deep breath as she paced her room. "I guess I'm just worried about you. I really hate the way we ended things…"

"So do I," Nathan replied in a hoarse voice as he appeared in the doorway. He looked down at his feet. "No one answered the door."

Haley shook her head slightly, appearing shocked. "They're gone for the weekend." She turned off the phone and put it down before turning to him once again. "How are you?" She asked, taking a step towards him.

He looked into her eyes. "Not so good…can I…?" He took a step towards her. "Just…" He cleared the distance between them in a few short strides and wrapped his arms around her.

She closed her eyes at the contact, breathing in the scent of him. Nathan always smelt amazing.

"I've made a lot of mistakes Beth." He whispered into her ear before pulling away to look into her eyes. "Sometimes because of my dad, sometimes by choice." He moved to sit on her bed and she followed behind him, looking concerned.

Nathan looked off into the distance, the pain evident in his voice as he whispered, "I can't do it anymore."

"It's okay." Haley murmured, comforting.

"No." Nathan replied. "No, it's not okay. I'm not okay. When I fell on the floor tonight, I was so scared…I'm still terrified." He turned his head to face her and his eyes bore into hers. "Then I saw you. And I promised myself that if I could just get up, walk over to you, and tell you how much I need you, how much I want you…" He closed his eyes and shook his head softly. "Then nothing else matters."

She looked at him in amazement for a moment. She remembered Trevor telling her about this scene. This was the scene when James first realizes that he's in love with Beth, and looking at Nathan, hearing him say those things; it was easy to believe that he loved her back. The look in his eyes and the tone of his voice, it seemed so real. It seemed like there was no way that he could _not _love her. That thought alone made a huge smile break out on her face as she ran a hand through his hair before leaning in to fuse their lips together in a soft, sweet kiss; his words still playing over and over in her mind.

"And _cut!_" Trevor yelled.

_Snap! _And just like that Haley was brought back to reality. That warm sure feeling rushed out of her as her doubts returned, taking their place. _What if Nathan doesn't love me back?_ She wanted to tell him how she felt so badly but she didn't want to scare him away. She had never been in love before. Sure, she had thought she was in love, but this was different somehow. This was real. She could feel it. But she wasn't the only one to be considered. Nathan had to feel the same way, and if he didn't… Haley closed her eyes. She didn't want to think about that.

"Haley? Are you okay?" Nathan's words broke into her thoughts and her eyes snapped open.

"Huh? Oh…yeah…I'm fine." Haley plastered a fake smile on her face as she looked up at him. She could tell he wasn't buying it.

"Haley…" He trailed off, searching her eyes. "What's wrong? You can tell me."

_If only…_ Haley thought. "It's nothing, really." Haley tried to look more convincing but could see that she was failing miserably.

"Okay," It was clear that Nathan didn't believe her, but he seemed to be letting it go. "But when you're ready to talk about it, I'm here. You know you can tell me anything."

Haley smiled up at him. "Thank you." She was about to lean in to kiss him again when Trevor cut in.

"That was great you two! Great work!"

"Thanks!" Haley turned to Trevor with a smile as she got up off of the bed.

"Yeah…thanks." Nathan muttered as he stood as well, taking a slight step away from Trevor. Haley looked over at him and frowned slightly. It seemed that things were still tense between the two guys. She had hoped that now that all the drama was over they would be able to get along better but it seemed that there was no hope of that ever happening. Although the two were civil towards one another, there seemed to be a constant underlying tension…such as at that very moment. Haley had hoped that either one of them would make an attempt at conversation but it seemed that both were content to just stand there in awkward silence.

Haley sighed. "Look, you guys…"

"Tutorgirl. You're coming with me."

Haley's head snapped towards the door. "Brooke? How did you get in here?"

Brooke shook her head. "Not important."

Nathan chuckled causing Brooke to look up at the two men standing awkwardly beside Haley. "Oh, hey there, Boytoy and… Director Guy."

Trevor gave her a strange look. "Haven't you heard of me? I'm Trevor Delupe. I've worked-"

"Well that's all very nice Travis, but I need Haley right now." Brooke reached for her arm as Haley gave her a look to be nice. "Come on Tutorgirl."

"Where are you taking me anyways?" Haley asked as Brooke dragged her towards the door.

"_We_," Brooke said, "are going to have some girl time."

"Right now?" Haley asked, looking back at Nathan and Trevor. Trevor shook his head, Nathan shrugged.

"Yes right now." Brooke said matter-of-factly. "When's the last time we had girl time?"

"Umm…" Haley thought about it.

"See." Brooke cut her off. "It's been way too long. Now come on."

Nathan chuckled as he saw Brooke drag Haley the rest of the way out of her room. "Nice talking to you too Brooke!" He called as he tried not to laugh.

"Make sure to lock up when you two leave!" He heard Haley yell before the front door slammed shut.

~*23*~

"Brooke!" Haley exclaimed as Brooke practically dragged her towards Lucas' front door. "Will you calm down?"

"Sorry Tutorgirl." Brooke loosened her grip on Haley's arm slightly before squealing, "I'm just so excited for our girl time!"

"Is Peyton here?" Haley asked as Brooke opened the front door. She immediately regretted it as she saw Brooke scowl and felt Brooke's hand tighten on her arm.

"Ow…" Haley muttered, but Brooke didn't seem to notice.

"No, Peyton is not." Brooke replied in a tight voice before exclaiming, "She decided to stay in with Jake!" She shook her head and muttered. "So much for hoes over bros…"

Haley just shook her head and smiled.

"Did I hear my pretty girl." Lucas appeared around the corner with a smile, walking towards her for a kiss.

"_Luke! What are you doing here?"_ Brooke shrieked as she hit his arm before crossing her own over her chest.

"Ouch." Lucas rubbed his arm as he looked at her puzzled. "Brooke, I live here."

Brooke stomped her foot as her tone turned whiny. "I know, but I told you yesterday, today we're having a girl's day."

Lucas looked at her, puzzled. "Yeah…so?"

Brooke raised a perfectly arched eyebrow. "So that means _you_ are not supposed to be here!"

"Well what do you want me to do?" Lucas asked. "Nathan was shooting his scenes and Jake…well for some reason Jake isn't answering his phone."

Haley snickered at that but was silenced by Brooke's glare.

"Well then go to the River Court or something."

"Brooke." Haley turned to her. "Why don't you just let him stay. He's your fiancé and my best friend, he probably knows everything anyways."

"But it's _girl_ time." Brooke whined. "Meaning NO BOYS!"

"Please pretty girl." Lucas looked at her with a smile.

Brooke looked at him, shaking her head, but she seemed to be losing some of her resolve.

Lucas took a step so he was standing right in front of her and put his hands on her shoulders, looking deeply into her eyes. "Please. I'll be on my best behavior, I promise."

Brooke looked at him for a second before pouting. "Fine. But no over-protective guy stuff. I mean it, one word from you and you're out of here."

Lucas put his hand to his lips, pretending to zip them together before giving her the imaginary key. "Not a word."

Brooke smiled, satisfied before making her way to Lucas' bed, Lucas and Haley following behind her.

"So am I going to get to hear what you girls say about me when I'm not here?" Lucas asked with a smirk.

"Nope." Brooke shook her head. "Since you're here, we can't talk about you."

Lucas looked between the two of them. "Okay, then what are we going to talk about?"

Brooke gave him smug smile. "Haley and Nathan."

"Brooke," Lucas whined.

Brooke raised her eyebrows. "Not a word," she reminded him.

Lucas put his head down, pouting.

Brooke turned to Haley, choosing to ignore Lucas' sulking. "So Tutorgirl, how's it going with Boytoy." Lucas cringed at the nickname and Haley blushed, but Brooke pretended not to notice.

"It's going well." Haley said meekly, glancing at Lucas.

"Oh come _on_!" Brooke complained. "You guys talk about this kind of stuff otherwise."

"Yeah," Haley muttered, her cheeks red. "But not in _detail_."

Brooke looked between the two before shrugging. "Well that's too bad, because I want details. I heard about the whole 'Nathan, no sex' scenario but when I came to get you today you two seemed like everything was okay. What happened?"

"Well…" Haley glanced at Lucas for a second before looking back at Brooke. "Nathan came over a few days ago and told me that it wasn't about sex with me and that he would wait until I was ready."

"Does he know…?" Brooke started to ask. "You know, that you want to wait until- "

"Yeah." Haley looked at her. "He knows that I want to wait until marriage. And he's okay with that." Haley couldn't help the smile that spread across her face.

Brooke smiled back at her. "I'm happy for you Tutorgirl. Go team Naley!"

"I'm happy for you too." Lucas commented. "Now I won't have to beat his ass."

Brooke shot him another glare and he put his hands up in surrender before lapsing back into silence.

"Go on." Brooke urged.

"Well, I told him about Felix…" Both Brooke and Lucas' eyes widened at that.

"And?" Brooke asked impatiently.

"And he was really sweet about it. In fact, after…well we kind made out for a bit." Haley made sure not to look at Lucas while she said that part. "And then we watched Casablanca."

"He was willing to watch Casablanca with you?" Brooke asked amazed.

Haley nodded, unable to keep the smile off of her face. "I actually offered to watch something else but he said that if that was what I wanted to watch then he wanted to watch it too."

"Whipped." Lucas muttered before Brooke smacked him in the arm.

"Why can't you be that sweet?" She complained.

"I watch chick flicks with you," Lucas defended.

"Not without complaining." Brooke countered.

Haley giggled. The two of them were too funny sometimes. Brooke squinted at Lucas, "I'll deal with you later." She then turned to Haley. "You are so lucky Tutorgirl. You have no idea how rare guys like Nathan are. You better hold on to him."

Haley smiled. "I know."

Brooke was quiet for a moment before she suddenly jumped up off of the bed. "You know what this moment needs?" She asked. She didn't even wait for a reply. "Junk food. You two stay here. I'll be right back." And like that she bounced out of Lucas' room and down the stairs towards the storage room in the basement.

Lucas looked after her for a moment before turning to Haley with a smile. "I really am happy for you Hales. You deserve to be happy."

Haley looked up at him and her eyes watered slightly. "Thanks buddy." Then she laughed. "So does this mean you approve?"

"Well…" Lucas started with a smile. "If he ever hurts you, I'm still going to have to beat his ass…"

"But?" Haley looked at him expectantly, she hoped there was a 'but'.

"_But_," Lucas grinned. "I approve. Nathan's a really good guy Hales, he's really changed and it's all because of you. All because you saw something in him. I don't know if any guy deserves you but I think he's as close as we're going to get. Besides, I can tell he really cares about you, and from what I've seen, he makes you really happy."

"He really does." Haley smiled. "And I'm really glad you approve Luke…"

Lucas looked at her suspiciously. "Because?"

"Because," Haley took a deep breath before she quickly rushed out, "I think I'm in love with him."

Lucas sat there in stunned silence for a couple of seconds. "What?"

"I'm in love with him." Haley repeated slowly, her cheeks flushing as she said the words aloud.

"Are- are you sure?" Lucas asked as the shock started to wear off, concern taking its place. "This isn't like with Felix is it?"

"No." Haley shook her head adamantly. "This isn't anything like Felix. I'm sure...positive. I mean, I've never felt this way before. He…I can't breathe when I'm around him and when I'm not around him I want to be. I'm just…I'm totally in love with him." Haley waited nervously for Lucas to say something, his opinion meant everything to her. When she was greeted with nothing but silence she conjured up the nerve to look at him, and was surprised with what she saw. Lucas was sitting there grinning from ear to ear. He met her gaze and his grin only widened.

"What?" Haley asked nervously as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"You're in love." Lucas grinned. "I'm just so happy for you Hales."

Haley smiled at him. "I'm happy for me too."

"So?" Lucas leaned in closer. "When are you going to tell him?"

Haley looked down at that, fiddling with the pinky ring on her left hand. "I don't even know if he feels the same way Luke… I mean, what if he doesn't love me back?" For the first time Haley vocalized the fear she had been feeling for the past couple of days.

Lucas just chuckled. "Haley, he loves you back."

"But how do you know?" Haley looked up at him and she knew that he could see her doubts. "I mean, what if I try and tell him and it just scares him away?"

"Come here buddy." Lucas held his arms out and Haley scooted towards him and wrapped her arms around him, reveling in the comfort of her best friend's embrace.

"Haley." Lucas started, his arms still wrapped tightly around her. "I've gotten to know Nathan really well these past few months and there's not a doubt in my mind that that guy is head over heels in love with you. He may not know it yet, but he is. You just have to give him some time to figure it out. Nathan's never been in a functioning relationship before and all this is really new to him. But I can guarantee you that there is no way you can scare him away. Whether he knows it or not, he loves you." Lucas pulled away to look into her eyes and brushed a tear off of her cheek. "Hey, don't cry."

Haley smiled at him before pulling him in for another hug. "Thank you Luke."

Lucas just smiled. "No problem buddy. I'll always be here for you."

"So…" The two jumped slightly as Brooke suddenly appeared in the doorway with two tubs of ice cream, three spoons and a bag of chips. "What did I miss?"

Lucas looked over at Haley with a taunting smile, a mischievous glint in his eyes. Haley glared at him. "Don't you dare…"

He looked at her for a moment, as if considering her threat, before turning to Brooke with a smile. "Haley's in love with Nathan."

_"WHAT?"_ All the food fell to the ground with a clatter and a moment later Brooke was sitting beside Haley on the bed. "I want details…_now_!"

~*23*~

Haley was just getting her shoes on when the doorbell rang. She had left Lucas' about three hours ago and soon after Nathan had called asking if she wanted to go for a walk. She opened the door and a smile spread across her face as soon she saw Nathan standing on the other side. He looked nothing short of gorgeous in a pair of khaki shorts and a dark blue polo shirt.

"Hey." He greeted her with a smile.

"Hey." She looked up at him, getting lost in those deep blue orbs of his.

"You ready to go?" He asked her as he reached an arm out.

Haley nodded as she grabbed her purse and headed out the door, closing it behind her. Nathan wrapped his arm around her waist as they made their way down her front steps and stepped onto her driveway, heading towards the sidewalk.

"So…where are we walking to?" Haley asked as she wrapped both her arms around his waist. She loved being with him like this, it was so calming and comforting.

"You'll see." Nathan smirked at her.

Normally Haley would have pressed the issue, she usually hated surprises, but with Nathan she didn't care where she was going, just as long as he was beside her. So instead she just tightened her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest as they continued to walk.

A few minutes later she noticed a few lights up ahead and looked around herself, she knew this place. "Are we going to the docks?" She asked Nathan.

Nathan's smirk widened, confirming her suspicions.

"We are _so_ getting ice cream," Haley laughed before stepping out of Nathan's embrace and skipping towards the docks. Nathan just chuckled as he followed behind her.

"Two ice creams please." Haley asked the man at the stall. "One chocolate cone with two scoops and one…"

She turned to Nathan who had just appeared behind her and gave him a questioning glance.

"Rocky Road." Nathan filled in. "Three scoops."

"In a cone?" The man asked.

Nathan nodded and saw Haley shaking her head out of the corner of his eye. "What?" He asked her.

"Three scoops? In a cone? Nathan that's a really bad idea."

Nathan looked at her innocently. "I don't know what you're talking about. It's a great idea."

"Nathan that's just asking for trouble." Haley said as the man handed them their scoops and Nathan handed him the money. "Look at how unsteady that is! It's a disaster waiting to happen!"

Nathan just shook his head. "I have reflexes Haley, I'm not going to drop it."

Haley shrugged at him. "Whatever you say."

The two continued to walk down the boardwalk before Haley jerked to a stop in front of one of the tables. "Let's sit here."

Nathan looked down at the table and a wide grin spread across his face. He remembered this table perfectly. It was the table where he and Haley had filmed their first scene and where they had first gotten together. "This is our table." He smiled.

Haley smiled right back at him. "It is." She took a seat and watched as Nathan followed suit. She stared at him for a few moments, taking it all in. "This feels so…surreal." She commented after a few seconds of silence.

Nathan looked at her confused.

"Us." She elaborated. "I mean, I never would have thought that we would have ended up here…together. Do you remember when we first met?"

Nathan chuckled. "How could I forget?"

"We really hated each other didn't we?"

Nathan thought about it for a minute before looking at her, "I don't know…" Haley gave him a quizzical look. "I mean, I remember how much we used to fight and all, but I don't know if what I felt for you was ever really hate. I still remember the first time I saw you…" He trailed off as he lost himself in the memory of that day. "I thought you were beautiful. I'd never thought a girl was beautiful before, and it scared the hell out of me…"

Haley looked at him in wonder before blowing out a breath. "Wow…I never thought you felt it too."

Nathan's head snapped up at that. "Too?" He hadn't expected she'd felt anything for him that day, except possibly disgust.

"Yeah, I mean, I've never felt that kind of attraction towards anyone before. No one's ever gotten me that riled up. And for that while that we were fighting, it was like you brought out the worst in me, no one could get to me and push my buttons like you did. When I was around you I did things that I would never normally do."

Nathan smirked at that. "Like the time you slapped me?"

Haley looked at him with a smile. "Yeah, like that." Her expression then turned serious. "No one had ever gotten me that worked up before, and it scared me that you could have such a strong effect on me and I became scared that-"

"That you would lose yourself again," Nathan completed her thought, understanding.

"Yeah," Haley breathed.

Nathan stood up from the table and held his hand out to Haley. "Well you don't have to worry about that anymore. Because I like you for you Haley, and I wouldn't want you any other way."

Haley smiled at him as she took his hand and they started walking again. "You are quite charming, you know that?"

He smirked down at her. "You haven't even seen my A-game."

She laughed at that. "Oh Lord help me if that's true."

Nathan just smiled at her for a few seconds before looking down at her cone. "How's that chocolate ice cream going?"

"It's delicious." She smiled up at him smugly. "You know, you should have gotten chocolate. You're really missing out." As if to prove her point she leaned down and licked her scoop. "Mmm…" She closed her eyes. "Delicious."

Then before she could react, Nathan had reached down and taken a bite out of her ice cream. "You're right," he grinned at her with chocolate ice cream smeared across his right cheek, "it is delicious."

"Oh yeah?" Haley asked with a challenging smile. Nathan smiled smugly back at her and she took a step closer to him before quickly jumping up to try and get a taste of his ice cream. Her tongue hit the top scoop and it slid right off the cone and onto Nathan's shirt.

They both watched as the ice cream slid down his shirt and plopped onto the cement below. Haley giggled. "You think this is funny?" Nathan asked.

Haley nodded as another giggle escaped.

Nathan shook his head with a smirk on his face. "You're dead." And before she knew what was happening he had smeared his ice cream cone across her face.

Haley shrieked and giggled as the cold dessert made contact with her skin. She licked her lips. "Mmm…you know, I think I might prefer Rocky Road."

"Really?" Nathan replied as he leaned in. "I don't know…" He pressed his lips against hers, sucking some of the ice cream off of her lower lip as he kissed her. He pulled away after a few more seconds and smirked at her. "You're right. Rocky Road is definitely better."

"Are you sure?" Haley asked him coyly as she dropped her cone and moved closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling herself up so that her lips hovered over his. "I think you might need another taste."

"I think you're right." Nathan muttered as he dropped his cone beside hers and crashing his lips onto hers, pulling her body flush against his. His one hand tangled in her hair as the other one made its way around her waist. Her hands made their way to his cheeks as she pulled his face closer to hers. Both of them were too wrapped up in each other to notice anything. Not even the photographer standing a few feet away, flashing away.


	20. I'd Lie

**Disclaimer: I own none of the characters, settings etc. from One Tree Hill.**

**Author's Note: Hey everyone, thanks so much for the reviews last chapter! I'm hoping you enjoy this one, I'm quite happy with the way it turned out. I re-wrote it three times so hopefully you enjoy it. Please tell me what you think! You're opinions mean a lot to me!**

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"Yes Brooke, I know, I've seen it. Brooke I'll figure it out, I just need to talk to Nathan. Yeah, I'll talk to you tomorrow." Haley sighed as she hung up.

She leaned over and picked up the remote off of the coffee table, turning the television off before leaning back against the couch and rubbing her temples.

Somehow, news about her and Nathan's relationship had gotten to the press. It seemed that someone had gotten a picture of them kissing at the Marketstreet docks and now the photo was posted just about everywhere, along with stories speculating on her and Nathan's relationship. While many believed her and Nathan were a couple, it seemed that there was still a lot of specuation as to whether the kiss was just a publicity stunt used to promote the new movie.

Haley groaned as she heard the phone start ringing again. It must be another one of the reporters, they had been calling non-stop. She was tempted to just let it ring but she knew that they would only keep calling so she reluctantly reached over to answer the phone.

"Look, I'm sorry but I have nothing to say to you."

"Haley?" The voice at the other end of the phone sounded confused, if not slightly offended.

"Trevor?"

"Yeah, it's me. Look, if it's not a good time I can call ba-"

"No, no, it's fine." Haley laughed humorlessly. "I thought you were a reporter."

"Yeah, actually that's why I called you. I wanted to talk to you about that."

"Yeah? What about it?"

"Do you know what you're going to do? Are you and Nathan breaking up?"

Haley was silent for a minute, shocked. "Breaking up? Why would Nathan and I break up?"

"Well, you know, while it's great that you guys are having fun and all, you also have your careers to think about."

"What about our careers?" Haley asked defensively. "Our dating is not going to ruin our careers Trevor. Celebrities date all the time. It'll just take some time for the media to get used to it and then it'll all die down."

"Haley, this isn't just about you. This is about Nathan too. Just because you're going to be fine doesn't mean he is."

"What are you talking about Trevor?" Haley asked, annoyed. He was being so cryptic.

"Did you know that ninety-five percent of Nathan's fan base is female?"

"No, I didn't. Thank you for telling me. Now if you'll just let me get back to-"

"You don't get it Haley," Trevor explained exasperatedly. "Nathan is as successful as he is because of his reputation. He's a player, plain and simple, and that's why girls love him, it's why they pay to see his movies. Now not only is he _dating_, but he's dating America's freakin' Sweetheart! What do you think that will do to his career Haley? Do you even realize how important this is to him? Would you take that away from him?"

"Look Trevor. As much as I appreciate your advice, I think that this is something I need to talk over with Nathan. We're going to make this decision together."

"Haley, think about it. Do you think he would break up with you? Even if that was what he really wanted? What he really needed in order to keep his career? No, you know Nathan, and you know that he wouldn't. He wouldn't even ask you, he would just give up his career. But are you really going to let him do that?"

"Look Trevor. As I said, I appreciate you calling but this really isn't any of your business. Nathan and I will deal with this on our own."

"I talked to him Haley, just last night. And you know what he said?" Trevor asked her. "He said that his career means everything to him. He said he wouldn't want to do _anything_ to jeopardize it. But he won't tell you, he doesn't want to hurt you. He would give up everything to make you happy, but would you really let him? I'm not doing this out of spite Haley. I think Nathan's a great guy. I'm just looking out for you guys."

"Trevor. I really have to go. I'll talk to you some other time." And with that, Haley hung up the phone and threw it beside her on the couch. She turned the T.V. back on and started flipping through the channels, trying her best to get Trevor's words out of her head, but no matter what she did, she could hear his voice echoing in the back of her mind, taunting her. _He would give up everything to make you happy, but would you really let him?_

~*23*~

Nathan dribbled the balled to the top of the key before turning towards the net and taking a shot, watching as the ball flew out of his hands and sailed through the air before falling neatly into the net. The clanging of the ball brushing against the metal chains cut through the silence of the early morning. Nathan ran to retrieve the ball, running back to the half court line and taking another shot, and another, until all he could hear was the pounding of the ball on the pavement and the wind rushing past his ears. He loved this place, he always came down here when he needed to think. The sound of the river flowing, the old rusted net, the faded lines on the court. There was nothing else like it. He remembered his first time coming down here, he had run out of his house, trying to escape one of his dad's rants about basketball and scholarships. He had had no idea where he was going, just that he needed to get away. He'd just kept running until eventually, he had made his way here. He remembered sneaking back in the middle of the night, hoping that for once he'd be able to practice without his dad pressuring him. He remembered the sense of peace he'd felt, even then, at eleven years old. It was the first time he had ever really truly enjoyed basketball. The first time he had realized just how much he loved the game.

He remembered his first time coming down here with Haley. How he had pretended not to know what this place was just to get under her skin. He smiled at the memory... back then, had someone told him she would end up being his girlfriend, he would have laughed in their face. Some days, he still didn't believe it. He couldn't understand how someone as perfect as her could see something in him.

_And neither can the press_. He thought to himself bitterly. That was the whole reason he was down here, the one thing he was trying to get off of his mind. Lucas had called him a few days ago and told him to check the news. Somehow the press had found out about his and Haley's relationship and for the past few days, it had been all everyone in Hollywood was talking about. It was all over television and on the cover of almost every gossip magazine.

Nathan gripped the ball tighter in his hands as he thought about it, throwing it towards the net with more force than was necessary, and watching as it hit the backboard and bounced off towards the bleachers.

"So I guess this means you're still wound up about the whole press thing."

Nathan's head snapped up at that, the ball momentarily forgotten. He hadn't noiced a car pull up.

Lucas just smirked as he shut his car door and made his way onto the court. "I talked to Haley this morning."

"Already? Dude, it's like seven in the morning."

"_Dude_," Lucas mocked. "It's Haley, she's up at like five."

Nathan chuckled at that. "That's true."

"Speaking of…why haven't _you_ talked to her yet." Lucas raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know." Nathan let out a frustrated sigh. "I mean, I want to. And I know that we need to. But I just, I just feel like I need to process everything first."

"Well you need to do it soon. Right now it seems that you guys still have an out. The press doesn't fully believe that you two are actually dating. There's still a lot of speculation that this is all just one big publicity stunt to promote the movie. They're going to go looking for sources, and if you guys don't act soon then you may not have an option anymore."

"I know," Nathan muttered, lost in his thoughts. "Everything's just so confusing right now. It all happened so fast, I guess I should have seen it coming… And then with Trevor and that-"

"Wait." Lucas cut in. "Trevor? What does he have to do with this?"

Nathan looked up, startled for a second. "Oh, I guess I forgot to tell you. Trevor called last night." He could hear the disgust in his own voice. "He started asking me about my career and if I valued it and shit like that. He then started accusing me of trying to ruin my own career."

"What did you say to him?"

"I told him the truth. My career means everything to me, you know that. Dan was always trying to live through me with basketball, but this, this was the first thing that was really mine, that Dan couldn't take credit for."

"I remember." Lucas nodded. Nathan had told him about his past, about the way Dan had treated him, and about how he had eventually chosen to give up the game so that he could have his freedom.

The brothers were silent for a few more minutes, both lost in their own thoughts.

"You're right." Nathan announced, out of the blue. "I do need to talk to Haley."

"You do." Lucas agreed. "And don't worry. Everything will work itself out._'Love conquers everything: let us, too, yield to love.'_" He finished with a smile which soon disappeared as he saw the expression on Nathan's face.

"What did you just say?"

"Just that everything will work itself out. You don't need to worry-"

"No." Nathan shook his head. "Not that. The other part."

"Oh, the quote. It's Virgil, he was a Roman poet. He wrote some great stuff about love." He watched again as Nathan blanched at the word. "Love? Come on Nathan, everyone knows you're in love with Haley. You have been since the beginning. You can't tell me you haven't noticed it yet."

"I don't know." Nathan swallowed. "I mean, I've never thought about it before. I've never been in love, I don't even know how I'd be able to tell."

"You just know…" Lucas trailed off. "It's like, all of a sudden you always want to be around her and when you're not, you can't stop thinking about her. She'll make your heart race and you won't be able to breathe when you're with her. You just become different. You can just feel it and you just know."

Nathan looked at him in shock for a second before pretending to laugh it off. "You read _way_ too many romance novels man. Soon you're going to turn into a chick."

Lucas just shook his head. "Fine, be in denial. You'll realize it eventually." He could tell Nathan was processing his words, even if he was to proud to admit it. It was obvious he had been head over heels for Haley for a long time now and he was just too confused and stubborn to see it.

Lucas' phone beeped, signaling a text. He flipped it open. _I think I should talk to Nathan. Do you know where he is? – Haley_

He smiled to himself before showing the text to Nathan. "Go talk to her man. You guys need to work this out." Lucas reached over to pat Nathan on the back but wrinkled his nose as he pulled away. "But go shower first. You're sweaty and gross."

Nathan shook his head. "Tell me Lucas…when did you turn into such a girl?"

"Around the same time you fell in love with Haley."

Nathan just shot him a glare before turning and heading towards his car.

Lucas laughed as he called after him. "Seriously dude, how are you so blind?"

~*23*~

After stopping by his house to shower and change his clothes, Nathan headed over to Haley's house. He knocked on the door a few times before stepping back, shifting from foot to foot. He didn't know why he was so nervous, there was no reason to be, but for some reason he couldn't quell that foreboding feeling at the pit of his stomach.

The door opened and he could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he looked at Haley, she always had that affect on him, but this time it was something more. Something about the expression on her face seemed to make him more nervous than he already was.

"Hey," she smiled, it was forced, he could tell.

"Hey. I think… I think we need to talk, about the press, and what we're going to do."

He noticed the change in Haley's expression as he said those words, the sadness and pain in her eyes.

"Hey," he took a step forwards, raising his hand to her cheek and rubbing small circles there with his thumb, "it's going to be okay. Everything's going to be okay."

Haley's eyes closed at that. "I think…" She took a deep breath. "I think that maybe we should break up."

Nathan's heart fell through his stomach as he heard those words. He took a step back away from her. "What?" He choked out.

"Nathan, maybe you should come inside, maybe we should talk about this."

"What's there to talk about? You don't want to be with me anymore!" Nathan was slowly backing away, towards the porch steps.

"Nathan that's not it! I do want to be with you, more than anything! That's why I have to do this. _Because_ I care about you."

Nathan just stared at her, shaking his head.

"Nathan please just come inside and let me explain." She took a step forwards towards him, but he just took another step back.

She could see the pain in his eyes, the fear. That's not what she wanted. She wanted him to understand her reasoning, so that they could talk it out together, make the best decision.

"I can't- I can't be here." Nathan choked out as he turned and ran from her doorstep, hastily getting into his car and driving off down the street.

"Nathan!" Haley ran out after him. "Nathan!" But by the time she got to the bottom of the driveway, he was long gone.

~*23*~

Nathan drove for a few more minutes before pulling over to the side of the road and resting his head against the steering wheel. He didn't know where he was, and right now, he didn't care. He let the last few minutes play over in his head. He couldn't believe it, Haley didn't want to be with him anymore. The pain that those words brought with them was more than he could handle. It was even more so because it had been in that moment, as he had stared at her, knowing he was about to lose her, that he had realized he was completely and irrevocably in love with her…and now he'd lost her. He could feel the ache in his chest as his eyes threatened to water and he fought the feeling, he hadn't cried since he was a child and he wasn't going to again.

He heard a loud knock against the window and his head snapped up. Lucas stood there outside his window, looking concerned. He took a step back as Nathan opened the car door and stepped out, looking around him. He was at the Rivercourt, he smiled ruefully. It didn't surprise him that he had ended up here.

"Holy shit. You look like hell."

Nathan tore his eyes away from his surrounding and turned to look at Lucas.

"What happened?"

Nathan tried to keep his voice neutral. "Haley broke up with me." He didn't succeed. He winced at the vulnerability he could hear in his own voice.

"Wait. What? But how… Haley lo- I mean, Haley really cares about you. She wouldn't break up with you."

"Well, she just did." Nathan muttered as he headed towards one of the bleachers, Lucas following behind him.

"Did she tell you why?"

"She wanted to stay and talk about it, but I just couldn't be there. I mean, what's there to talk about?" Nathan could hear the bitterness in his own voice. "She doesn't want to be with me."

"That's not true Nathan, I know Haley. I know how much she cares about you-"

"Clearly." Nathan muttered sarcastically.

"Nathan will you cut this out!" Lucas exclaimed as he jumped up off of the bleachers. "Look, Haley wants to be with you, I know that for a fact. I don't know why she's doing this, but she must have a reason. When she called me this morning, she was really upset. She kept talking about you and your career and how she wanted to make sure you didn't lose anything. I think you need to go talk to her."

"Lucas I can't do that. Not right now."

"The longer you leave this the worse it's going to get." Lucas looked like he was going to say something else but his head shot up as another car pulled up beside Nathan's. "Well, I'm going to go, but I guess I'll see you later." Lucas patted his back with a smile and quickly made his way towards his car.

Nathan stood up. "Wait! Where are you-?" He stopped short as he saw Haley get out of her car and make her way over to him.

"Nathan..."

He started to turn away but she put her hand on his arm to stop him. "Nathan please. I know you don't want to talk to me right now but please just hear me out okay?"

Nathan looked at her for a moment, debating, before slowly nodding his head and sitting down on the bleachers, looking up at her expectantly.

She took a deep breath, she seemed surprised that he had consented. "Okay." She ran a hand through her hair before she started pacing in front of him. "I know that what I did must make absoutely no sense to you but I really was trying to do it for you. I had been talking to Trevor yesterday and he starting telling me about your career and how important it is to you and how you're as successful as you are because of your huge female fan base and how if everyone knew we were dating it would ruin your career and then I was talking to Lucas this morning and I was asking him about your career and he was telling me about how much it means to you and I remember Nathan. I remember how you told me about your dad and how this was the one thing that was yours and I want you to have it. I don't want to take that away from you. And I-"

"Haley."

"-knew that if I left it up to you, you would just try and make the sacrifice and that's why I felt like it had to be me to do it because I know you would never want to hurt me but then I-"

"Haley."

"-hurt you and I'm really sorry because I shouldn't have just sprung it on you like that. I should have talked to you about it and we should have made the decision togeth-"

"Haley!" Nathan had jumped up off the bleachers and grabbed Haley's shoulders, holding her still.

Haley looked up at him.

"Can you just… calm down. Have a seat, and explain it to me slower." He couldn't help the affectionate smile that spread across his face, she was so cute when she rambled.

Haley flushed and gave him a shy smile before sitting down beside him on the bleachers. Taking a deep breath, she started from the beginning.

~*23*~

"So Trevor called you too?"

"Yeah, he started accusing me, telling me I didn't value my career, and then when I told him how much I did, he said he had to go and just hung up. I just- I can't believe he did this." Nathan declared angrily as his fists clenched at his sides. "I'm going to beat his-"

"Nathan," Haley put her hands over his, soothing him, until his hands relaxed back at his sides. "Trevor was wrong to interfere. But at the same time, maybe he was right."

"Hales, he-"

"Just hear me out okay? Nathan, your career means so much to you, and I don't want to do anything to jeopardize that. It may honestly be best for you if-"

"No Haley." Nathan warned. "Don't even say it. I am not breaking up with you for my _career_."

"Nathan I know how much it means to you-"

"You mean more Haley. And Trevor's wrong. This is not going to ruin my career."

"But what if it does?"

"Then I'll deal with it. Haley it's just a job, and it hurts me to think that you think I care more for it then I do for you."

"It's not that Nathan. I don't doubt that you care for me. It's just the opposite, I don't want you making those kinds of sacrifices for me. You might be fine with it now, but who's to say you won't regret it later on?"

"Haley, the only thing I would regret would be losing you. My whole life I've been selfish. I've only done what's best for me and my career. But I don't want to be that guy anymore."

"You're not." Haley smiled. "Just make sure this is what you really want okay? I just want what's best for you."

Nathan smiled at that. "You're what's best for me."

Haley reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, moving so that she was sitting on his lap, smiling down at him. "Good, 'cause you're what's best for me too." And with that she leaned down and kissed him.

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**Hope you enjoyed it! Please review! I hope to have the next update out soon!**


	21. Celebrity Status

**Author's Note: Hey guys, I know this is a short chapter, and maybe not one of my finest ones, but I just kep re-writing and re-writing it, trying to make it perfect before I decided that maybe I should just put it out there for you guys instead of making you guys wait any longer. So hopefully you guys like it and it's not too terribl, it's a little fluffy but it leads into something big. I also wanted to say thank you to all those who reviewed, it really means a lot, and thanks for sticking by me with this story. Anyways, hope you enjoy it and please leave a review to tell me what you guys think!**

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"Okay, is everyone ready?" Trevor looked around at the various cameramen as they nodded. "And…action!"

"James, I know I'm driving you crazy."

"No, you're not."

"Do you think that I'm a tease?"

"Stop it."

"Well what do you think?"

"I think that you're my girlfriend and I like to spend time with you."

Haley turned her head away from him, taking a deep breath as Nathan continued.

"Look, I just don't want to push you."

"You're not."

"But I am. Haley, you got a tattoo for god's sakes… and it just freaks me out, a little bit, because obviously, this whole think with us means a lot to you." Nathan shook his head softly. "I just don't want to do anything to pressure you or drive you away, even though sometimes I can't help it…" He took a deep breath as he prepared himself for what he was about to say. "Just like I can't help that I fell in love with you, because I did. I love you, Haley… and it scares me, a little bit… but there it is." He turned at that moment and looked into her eyes, although didn't know what he was hoping to find there. He knew that this was just a script, and they were just acting, but he had never spoken truer words, and he couldn't help but try and gauge her reaction, hoping it would give him some sort of a sign as to if she felt the same way.

Haley let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "Wow… there it is." She then turned to Nathan and cupped his face in her hands as she kissed him. She had never had a problem differentiating her acting roles from real life but somehow, she couldn't help but wish this was real. She loved Nathan, she knew that, but how was she supposed to know if he felt the same way? She knew of his reputation, and while she had accepted that she was different, was she enough to make _the _Nathan Scott fall in love with her? She pulled away from the kiss and looked up into his eyes, nothing but love and adoration shining though her own. "I love you too."

And Nathan felt it, the warmth and happiness that flowed through him as his face broke out into a smile. His eyes snapped shut as Haley once again attached her lips to his, although his smile stayed in place. Her words seemed so real, so true, he couldn't help but wish that this was real life, that he could just tell her he loved her and be this sure of her reaction.

"And cut!" Trevor's voice broke both of them out of their thoughts as they pulled away and looked into each other's eyes, searching for something. "Woah! What's up with you guys."

At that Nathan turned away from Haley and back towards Trevor. "Okay, a deal's a deal. You said we could talk after we shot the scene, it's time to talk."

Trevor yawned and stretched. "You know? I think it's getting late, maybe we should pick this up some other time." The rest of the crew had already started to pack up their stuff and was slowly dispersing.

"I don't think so." Nathan took a menacing step forward, his hands balled into fists. "What were you trying to pull Trevor? I know what you told Haley. You almost _ruined_ our relationship. But that was your plan all along wasn't it?"

"Let's not be hasty here." Trevor put his hands up as he took a step back. "I was only trying to do what's best for you guys, you know that right Haley?" Trevor turned to look at Haley who was standing beside Nathan, arms folded across her chest.

Nathan took another step forward and raised his fist towards Trevor.

"Nathan, no." Haley put her hand on his shoulder before turning towards Trevor. "Trevor, I don't know what to believe anymore. I don't know how you can expect me to believe anything you say. I understand if you're upset about the way things ended with us but this is not the way to handle it. You can't just… _manipulate_ people to get what you want."

"Haley, I wasn't-"

"Save it Trevor. We are working together so we will come to the set and act professional but other than that, I don't want to near me or Nathan. _We_ are none of your business and our relationship is _none of your business._ So other than work, I would appreciate it you would just keep to yourself and stay the hell away from us." And with that Haley turned away from Trevor and headed towards her car.

Nathan smirked at Trevor before following behind her. His girl was hot when she got pissed. He was still smirking as he shut the passenger side door behind him and turned towards Haley.

"What?" She asked him.

"That was hot."

"Nathan!" Haley squeaked as she swatted him, her cheeks reddening.

"What?" Nathan asked innocently. "I can't tell my girl she's hot?"

Haley's blushed deepened. "Come on, let's just g-" Haley stopped as her phone buzzed and she reached down into her pocket to pull it out. Nathan's phone buzzed a second later and he did the same.

Nathan turned to her with a smirk after reading the text. "Brooke?"

"Brooke." Haley nodded.

"Feel like a detour?" He smirked.

Haley seemed to ponder this for a moment before shrugging. "Ah, why not?"

~*23*~

"Look who made it." Brooke smirked as the two made their way onto the football field.

"Brooke, why did you call us here?" Nathan asked as they approached the rest of the gang.

"Why do you think I called you here?"

"Hmm…" Peyton put a hand to her chin. "The football field, late at night… are you going to kill us B. Davis?"

"How did you know?" Brooke stuck her tongue out at her friend.

"Just a guess." Peyton smirked back.

"Okay, but really… why are we here pretty girl?" Lucas turned to look at his fiancée.

"Well, I was thinking, we haven't done anything fun in a while."

"Sure we have." Jake interjected. "We had the movie night and we-"

"No, but like really fun. Like we used to do back in high school, you know? I mean we're all so young but our lives are so busy and we never have time to just… I don't know, be kids like we used to."

"Well what did you have in mind?" Lucas asked.

"You'll see." Brooke smiled. "But first…" She took a quick glance at her watch. "I have to get something."

"Wha-"

"Be right back." Brooke rushed out before skipping across the field and behind the bleachers.

"What do you think she's up to?" Peyton asked suspiciously.

"Beats me." Nathan shrugged.

"Maybe she _is_ going to kill us." Haley wondered aloud.

"Wait a minute." Jake turned to Lucas. "What time is it?"

Lucas looked up confused. "Umm… like 9:30. Why?"

"Shit."

"What?"

"Don't you remember back in high school when we used to come down here during the summer…"

"Yeah…" Lucas was still confused.

"But we always had to leave early because at nine thirty…"

Peyton turned to him, wide-eyed. "The sprinklers would go off."

At that moment a spray of water shot up from the grass, followed by another, and another, until the whole field was showered by sprays of water. Haley screeched as the cold water hit her skin.

They all shot around as they heard a bout of laughter coming from the side of the field. Brooke stepped out from behind the bleachers, completely dry, an amused look on her face. "See, I missed this kind of fun!"

"Brooke! How could you?" Haley screeched as she put her hands over her head, heading towards the side of the field, trying to get away from the water.

"Brooke Davis I am so kicking your ass!" Peyton yelled out.

"You know what?" Jake smirked. "I really don't mind this."

Everyone followed his line of sight and noticed that Peyton was wearing a white shirt which was quickly become transparent. "Jake!" Peyton shrieked as she frantically tried to cover her chest. "Oh Brooke, you are so dead!"

Nathan looked over at her for a second, his gaze drifting to Brooke before he glanced back at Peyton. "Are you think what I'm thinking?"

Peyton caught his eye and smirked. "Hell yeah."

They both turned towards Brooke and started taking slow deliberate steps forward.

"Oh no." Brooke took a step back. "Don't you dare."

Lucas, who was the closest to the edge of the field suddenly broke out into a run, just as Brooke turned to run the in the opposite direction. She shrieked as he picked up off the ground, his wet body pressing into hers and soaking through the thin fabric of her shirt. "Lucas Eugene Scott put me down this instant or… or I won't have sex with you for a week!"

"Eugene?" Lucas exclaimed. "Oh now you're _so_ getting soaked."

"Lucas this is a seventy dollar shirt and if it gets wet, there will be hell to pay."

Lucas just smirked as he carried her into the spray of water. "You should have thought about that before you brought out the middle name."

"Lucas!" She squealed. He continued carrying her until he made his way to the center of the field, at which point she was thoroughly soaked.

"Yes baby?" He replied innocently.

"Put me down this instant!"

"Of course babe. Whatever you say." And with that Lucas bent down and placed her, on her back, in the middle of the field, getting mud on her clothes and in her hair.

Brooke jumped up immediately. "Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew!" She jumped around as she tried to brush the mud off her. Everyone chuckled as she danced around the field, although Lucas suddenly stopped as she glared at him. "You are so dead." She poked his chest with her index finger, enunciating each word.

"Really?" Lucas asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Really." Brooke replied adamantly.

"And how do you plan on doing that?"

Brooke looked up at him with a sexy smile. "Well first," she started seductively as she ran a finger down his chest, making him shiver. "I plan on doing this." She leaned up an nibbled on his earlobe.

"You know, I think I like this punishment." Lucas muttered huskily.

"And then," Brooke continued. "I'm going to do…this." Suddenly Brooke's leg shot out and hooked Lucas behind the knee. She watched as he fell to the ground before sitting on top of him to keep him there. "Ah ha! That'll teach you to mess with Brooke Davis."

"You know?" Lucas commented, his voice muffled by the grass. "I really don't mind this position."

Jake chuckled as he watched Brooke straddling Lucas. "I wouldn't mind getting in on some of that."

"What was that?" Peyton asked with her eyebrows raised.

"Nothing." Jake covered quickly, however as he turned to face her his sheepish look was replaced with a smirk. "Although I _really_ wouldn't mind if _you_ wanted to straddle me, especially in that shirt."

"Oh, you're going to regret that." Peyton shook her head as she took a step forward.

"Jake you're so dead." Haley called from the sidelines, where she was now standing.

"Hales, what are you doing all the way over there?" Nathan called out. "I thought you loved the rain."

"This isn't rain Nathan." Haley laughed as Nathan ran across the field towards her.

"It's good enough." He smiled as he lifted her off the ground.

"Nathan!" She squealed. "Put me down!"

"No can do." Nathan smiled as he carried her out onto the field, putting her down right on top of one of the sprinklers.

"Oh, now _you're_ the one who's dead." Haley laughed as she jumped up. "Peyton?" She called as she took a step towards Nathan.

"Oh I'm so in!" Peyton yelled as she jumped up off of Jake. "I've always wanted to kick his ass for all his snarky remarks!"

"Hey, hey, hey." Nathan backed up slowly. "No need to be hasty."

"One." Haley started with a smile.

"Two." Peyton smirked.

"Three!" They both yelled out as they charged for him, chasing him across the field.

Twenty minutes later Lucas was on the ground with Brooke and Peyton on top of him while Jake tried to pull them off and Nathan and Haley were a few feet away, Haley on Nathan's back as she tried to pull him down to the ground. Everyone was laughing and screaming, oblivious to the world around them when suddenly they heard a voice rise up above their laughter.

"Well well, look what we have here."

Everyone froze as they looked up to see the smirking man in front of them.

"Anyone mind if Chris Keller gets in on the action?"


	22. Hands Open

**Author's Note: I just wanted to thank everyone who's been reviewing for their extreme dedication to this story and apologize for how long it's taken for this update to come. I had some extreme writer's block and I didn't feel right continuing to write the story when I knew the chapters were going to be poor quality and the story was going to go downhill. I received many reviews asking me to finish this story and it really helped motivate me so I searched my old laptop and found that I had had the next chapter written but had not had the chance to publish it before I left for university. I also found my old outline for the story and have gone over and started to try and continue where I left off on my old plot-line. I've also re-read this story and, if you guys are still interested in reading it and would me to continue writing it, I will gladly finish it. So please let me know what you think and what you would like! Sorry for the ramble! Enjoy!**

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_Nathan walked over to Haley's the next day, all the events of the previous night still circling around in his head. Everything was going great, after all the work and drama he was finally relaxing and having fun with his friends and his girlfriend, and then Chris had to show up and ruin everything. Nathan sighed as he reached up to knock on the door; however, he found that it was already open. _That's strange, _Nathan thought to himself, _Haley never leaves her door unlocked.

"_Haley?" Nathan called out as he walked into the house. He heard heavy breathing coming from the living room. Nathan started to panic. "Haley? Are you okay?" He rushed into the living room when he heard no reply, and his breath caught in his throat at what he saw. _

_There was Haley, lying in front of the fireplace, in nothing but a blanket, and Chris' arms were wrapped tightly around her as they kissed. "HALEY?"_

_Haley didn't seem to hear him, she appeared too wrapped up in Chris to care._

"_HALEY? WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?"_

_Haley seemed to turn at that. "Oh…hey Nathan." She smiled sheepishly at him. "Did you need something?"_

"_Haley, what are you doing with this prick?" Nathan shot Chris a disdainful look. "He doesn't deserve you."_

_Haley laughed at that. "What? And you think you do?"_

"_No, but…I least I…I…"_

"_You what? Love me? Come on, don't look so surprised that I know, you're so obvious about it."_

"_Well do you…do you love me back?"_

"_Aww Nathan." Haley gave him a sympathetic smile. "Don't you know? I love Chris."_

Nathan shot up in bed, breathing heavily, with Haley's words still echoing in his mind. "I've got to go see her," he muttered to himself as he jumped out of bed and headed towards the shower. He sighed as he felt the warm water wash over him, although he still couldn't get thoughts of Chris and Haley out of his head. He remembered when he had first heard about her and he had decided to look her up. He remembered finding all those articles about the two year relationship between Haley James and Chris Keller. How they made the perfect couple. How no one understood what could have possibly caused them to break up. And their relationship had only ended a year ago, what if Haley still had feelings for Chris? What if he was just a rebound? Nathan couldn't stop these thoughts as they raced through his mind. He couldn't handle losing Haley, he knew that. He didn't know what he'd do if she decided she wanted Chris instead, only that it would break him. He'd only known Haley for a few months but he'd fallen fast and hard, she was the first and only girl he'd ever been in love with and the thought of losing her hurt more than he ever could have imagined. He couldn't lose her, he wouldn't.

With that thought in mind Nathan jumped out of the shower and dressed quickly before heading out the door. He needed to see Haley more than anything; to see her face and know that she cared for him and not Chris, and so that he could convince himself that his nightmare wasn't about to become his reality.

Nathan pulled up outside Haley's house and jumped out of the car before hurrying towards the front door. He knocked impatiently.

"Coming!" He heard a voice answer. That was strange, that voice sounded much too masculine to be Haley's. In fact, it sounded like…

"Chris Keller."

"Can I help you?" Chris smirked as he leaned against the doorframe.

"I need to speak with Haley." Nathan glared at Chris.

"She's a little pre-occupied at the moment. If you know what I mean…" Chris leaned in with a wink.

"Chris! Who's at the door?" Haley called out as she walked towards the door in a night robe.

Nathan's eyes widened as he saw her. He looked from her to Chris and noted her sheepish expression beside his smug one. "This can't be happening…" Nathan muttered to himself. This was like his dream all over again. "I have to go." Nathan turned and ran towards his car before driving off down the street.

"Nathan!" Haley called out as she ran down the driveway. "Nathan!" She turned frantically towards Chris. "Chris I'm sorry but I have to go."

"It's fine." Chris smirked. "The Keller can show himself out."

Haley just shook her head before running into the house, pulling on some clothes, and running out the door.

~*23*~

Nathan sighed as he stretched himself across the grass. He was originally going to the Rivercourt but he knew it would only be a matter of time before Haley found him and he didn't think he could handle what she had to say. He just kept picturing his encounter with Chris and Haley over and over in his mind. He knew he was probably over-reacting but he couldn't help it. He couldn't quell that voice in the back of his head that kept telling him that Haley was so far out of his league, and that there was no way that he would ever deserve her. And he couldn't help the fear that one day she would realise it too, and that she would leave him. And now Chris was here, and it was the perfect out for her. Nathan ran his hands over his face, he was a mess, he had never been in love before, hell, he'd never even truly liked a girl before, and now in the span of a few months he'd met this amazing woman and fallen in love. This was all so new and confusing. His emotions had never felt this out of control before and he'd never felt such a strong fear of losing anyone before, but maybe that was because he'd never met anyone as amazing as Haley before. Nathan groaned out loud. How was he supposed to do this? He'd never been the relationship type of guy. That had always been Jake's department.

"Nathan?"

Nathan jumped up and spun around at the sound of her voice. "How…how did you find me?"

"The more important question is why did you run away in the first place?"

"Look Haley, I can't do this right now," Nathan sighed turning away from her.

"No Nathan." Haley walked up to him and grabbed his arm, turning him around. "You can't keep doing this, you can't keep running away every time something happens that you don't like."

"That's not what I'm doing..." Nathan started.

"Yes Nathan, you are. This is what happened with Trevor and then again when the press found out about us. You just…you run, and you shut me out. I need you to open up to me Nathan, that's the only way this is going to work."

"I just…" Nathan looked away from her, he couldn't believe he was actually saying this. "I just don't think I can handle it if…"

"If?" Haley prodded after a few seconds.

Nathan paused once more before his words came tumbling out in an agitated rush. "If you decide that you don't want me anymore. That you want Trevor or Chris, or someone else instead."

"Nathan…" Haley searched his eyes, confused. "Why…? How could you possibly think that? It's you that I want Nathan, you're the _only_ one I want. How could you doubt that?"

Nathan opened his mouth to say something before looking down at his feet.

"Nathan, please, just open up to me and tell me what's bothering you."

"It's just that…you're, you're perfect and I'm just this screw-up. And every time I look at you I know you deserve someone better, and I can't help but fear that one day you'll realise it too and then I'll lose you forever."

Haley could hear the coarseness in his voice and she reached up to cup his cheek in her hand, turned his head so that he was looking into her eyes. "Nathan, how can you think that? When I look at you, I don't see a screw up, I see this amazing guy. You're smart and you're caring and you make me feel wanted and…alive. And I've never felt that way before. I've never cared this deeply for anyone before." Her voice had quieted down to a whisper towards the end.

"Not even Chris?" Nathan asked quietly.

"Definitely not Chris." Haley shook her head. "My relationship with Chris was…complicated, to say the least. We just, we weren't right for each other. The only thing we had in common was our love for music, and I realised later on that as we sang the same songs together, we grew to love those songs, and we bonded over that, over the music. Somehow, as we performed and recorded together, we mistook our passion for music for passion for each other. But _never _did I feel as strongly for Chris as I do for you Nathan. And as soon as I realised that the only thing Chris and I had was a mutual love for music, I broke it off."

"I heard about you guys Haley. I know all that stuff about you guys being 'the perfect couple' and all that."

"Nathan, we seemed perfect because we weren't _real_. Not like you and I are. Chris and I fought all the time; he put his career before everything else and thought I should too. He was willing to compromise our relationship so that we could get ahead. Nathan, you are the exact opposite of that, in fact, you were willing to risk your career just so that you could be with me." She smiled lovingly at him as she rubbed his cheek with her thumb.

Nathan smiled down at her for a moment before he remembered something. His smiled vanished. "But this morning…"

"Chris just came by to say hello. He had written some new songs he wanted to record but he hadn't been able to find me. Once the press leaked that we were in Tree Hill, he came down to see if I would want to record with him."

"But the last time you two worked together…"

"That won't happen again, we won't make the same mistake twice. I have no remaining feelings for Chris and I'm sure that he feels the same way."

Nathan looked down at the ground. "I'm not so sure about that," he muttered to himself.

"Nathan."

He looked up into Haley's eyes.

"Please just trust me okay? I would never do anything to hurt you."

"I know." Nathan nodded. "And I trust _you_, it's him I'm worried about."

"Well you have nothing to worry about. Chris and I are _just friends_."

Nathan looked at her for a moment before taking a deep breathe and nodding. "Okay."

"So you believe me?"

"Of course I do."

"Good," Haley smiled at him. "Now how about we go back to my place and order some pizza for lunch."

"What about-"

"Oh, Chris is gone."

"Okay then." Nathan smiled. "Sounds perfect." He grabbed Haley's hand and tried to shake away his doubts as they headed off towards Haley's car. He still wasn't convinced. Haley was perfect, she was smart and beautiful and incredibly talented, and there was no way any guy wouldn't want her…especially Chris. But he trusted Haley, and while he didn't feel he deserved her, he knew that she would never lie to him and would never cheat on him, and so the most he could do for now was to let it go…at least for now.

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**Thanks so much for all your support! Please let me know what you think!**


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